


Strolling Amongst Stalactites

by Blackkitten23



Category: Naruto
Genre: Blood and Gore, Explicit Language, Explicit Sexual Content, F/M, Genderbending, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-03-22
Updated: 2018-04-18
Packaged: 2018-05-28 11:33:01
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 16
Words: 37,058
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6327295
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Blackkitten23/pseuds/Blackkitten23
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A mysterious ninja from an unknown ninja village has discovered an abused child in the village of Konoha and makes the rash decision to steal her away. How will Naruko fair in her savior’s village where she’s loved and cared for?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Yoink!

**(** I’m thinking)

“I’m speaking”

**“Demon / summon / ghost speaking”**

**(Demon / summon / ghost thinking)**

/Author’s comments\

**Pairing: Hentai F/M - Naruko x**

XXXXXXXXXX

“here you go miss” said a shop owner as he handed a lovely black haired woman in a pink kimono a bag of groceries.

The woman’s green eyes looked up from her book and she smiled “thank you” she took the bag and waved at the shop owner as she left the building (I hate this place … everyone is so fake. I can’t wait to get back to the village in the Caves) she went back to the hotel she was staying at, but as the day went on she noticed something odd.

“why are their so many people out when it’s late afternoon?” she pondered curiously. It was especially strange because all the other days she has been in this town things were nowhere near as busy. Curiosity set in so she flicked her room lights off, closed the curtains and created a clone to take her place. In the dark room she changed into dark black clothes with a solid black mask and leapt stealthily out the window to follow a group of civilian carrying lit torches …

(I can just hear the old croon’s voice ‘you should know better than to poke around a ninja village Jade, we aren’t foolish attention seeking ninjas like they are in other villages’ …this is very strange- … is that a little girl?!) the woman known as Jade was horrified to see a man dragging a crying naked five year old girl by her blonde hair out into the middle of the crowd (what are they doing?) a sinking feeling in her stomach became stronger as the people made a circle around the frightened girl. Some people even pulled out cameras.

One woman stepped towards the little girl with a cruel smile “we have something special plan for you demon. You will suffer for murdering our loved ones”

The little girl whimpered in fear “I-I didn’t hurt anyone-” Jade snarled from behind her black mask as the woman brutally smacked the little girl leaving a gash across the cute whisker marks on the child’s cheeks. The Cave ninja clenched her teeth as she watched the girl clutch her now bleeding cheek.

“you’re a lying demon bitch! You slaughtered hundreds and our beloved Fourth hokage was one of them!” yelled the woman and several people cheered. A few even threw rocks, one of which nailed the poor girl on the head making blood trickle down her hair.

Jade raised an eyebrow at the insanely ridiculous accusation (what the hell is wrong with these people? … the fourth hokage died fighting the nine tailed fox so maybe … oh on, she’s the demon’s vessel, but this is terrible! Why isn’t someone helping her? The ninjas aren’t really just going to stand by are they? … there are no ninjas here! Why?) the foreign ninja extended her senses and was stunned to find the lack of any chakra signatures any where close by. That didn’t make any sense to Jade, surely someone would notice a big crowd of noisy people carrying torches in the evening light!

“we know what you are demon and you will pay for your sins … gentlemen, teach this vile demon a lesson” the cruel woman stepped back towards the circle of people and four men stepped in … and much to Jade’s disgust they started unzipping their pants as another two people held the screaming girl down on the ground with her legs apart.

(I can’t let this happen) Jade flipped through a set of hand signs and whispered _“Cave Dweller’s Cloak”_

The effect was instant. A blanket of pure impenetrable darkness encased the area throwing all the civilians into panic as all their vision was removed. Jade made two more hand signs and tapped her temples… her eyes changed from green to yellow with slits for pupils and suddenly she could see clearly, but it was like looking around a black and white movie. She gracefully stepped towards the young crying girl. The child flinched in fear as she felt something touch her shoulder.

“it’s ok little one, I don’t want to hurt you. If you want to leave this place for good stand up and hold your arms up” said Jade (if she agrees I’ll take her, if not I can at least give these close minded idiots a scare, but this must be her choice … I’m going to be in trouble) the Cave ninja slid her leg out and tripped a person who was running around the darkness in a blind panic along with everyone else … it was the cruel woman who was apparently leading the bloodthirsty mob and now eating a face full of dirt.

“ok” the little girl fumbled in the dark and slowly stood up completely unaware that she was being watched. The naked girl shivered as the wind caressed her bare skin, but she ignored the cold and held both her arms up. Jade saw the look on the girl’s face … a look of hope. The ninja smiled and picked her up. A squeak escaped the child’s lips at the sudden contact.

“lets go far away from here little one” Jade held the girl close and jumped into the trees to make a fast getaway. Light suddenly appeared and the little girl looked at the strange black mass she was just in before looking up at the woman who saved her not seeing the ninjas eyes turn from yellow back to green behind the black mask. Jade made a one handed seal and whispered _“Night Terrors”_

The screams coming from the mist became louder “are they being hurt?” the girl asked clearly torn about caring for the people who just tried to hurt her.

“no” (not physically at least) thought Jade with a smirk as she raced through the forest with the girl in her arms balancing on her hip. She wrapped the girl in a cloak and placed a finger to her lips silently telling the girl to stay quiet, which the blonde child obeyed. No chances were taken … she ran fast and even along the surface of every stream hoping no one could follow their scents.

Hours passed … the sun was coming up, but Jade refused to stop. She only hoped her clone would get out of Konoha without any issues and would bring plenty of supplies. After running nonstop for nearly one full day she sighed in relief when she saw a storm approaching. Any trace of their scents would be washed away for sure. After only moments of searching she found a cave The sleeping girl in her arms barely shifted as the ninja placed her on the floor of the cave.

Jade removed a scroll from her belt and unsealed a cooking pot, a plate with kanji for fire and some water in a jug. Water was poured into the cooking pot and the pot was placed on the plate. With any fire at all the water began to boil as the ninja unsealed some food. Sadly she noted that this was the last of her own supplies, but she wanted the girl to eat so she placed the meat and vegetables in the boiling water with a sprinkle of spices. Finally the little girl woke up as she felt heat from the pot and smelled food.

“ah so you have woken up. Perfect timing, the stew is done” Jade chuckled as the girl rubbed her eyes with her tiny hands “here, there’s just enough for two more helpings so don’t eat quickly” she warned as she handed the little girl a bowl filled with a thick steaming stew with chunks of tender meat and vegetables. The ninja was worried about he girl who was clearly malnourished. You could easily see signs of a difficult life under the baggy cloak the blonde was in.

“thank you” said the little girl and she took the bowl … Jade smiled as the blonde blushed and began tearing up at the first spoonful of the stew before happily eating the rest … t must’ve been a long time since she had a decent meal.

“now that we have a chance to rest let me introduce myself. My name is Jade Terre and I’m from a village of ninjas far away from here” she said as she set her mask aside.

The small child’s big blue eyes looked at her in fascination and again … hope “I’m Naruko Uzumaki, is that where you’re going to take me?” Naruko flinched as a loud boom of thunder echoed through the cave and it started to rain heavily, but shook it off and drank the broth in the bowl leaving it empty.

Jade smiled and filled Naruko’s bowl with more stew “yes, the village hidden in the Caves” she unsealed a cup and filled it with water and gave it to Naruko to drink.

“how did you do that? The cup just appeared!” exclaimed Naruko as she excitedly took the cup and examined it before drinking from it carefully. Jade burst out laughing at the bubbly blonde’s curiosity.

“it’s called sealing. I’m not great at it, but I can at least make a storage scroll … you know if to want to become a ninja for Cave you can learn. Would you like that?” Naruko was almost bouncing with excitement as she nodded “ok, I’ll see if I can sign you up right away when we get there”

“thank you Jade” exclaimed Naruko happily. They both finished their meals and Naruko fell back asleep as Jade stayed up. If she let her guard down she might miss an attack from the leaf ninjas so she stayed awake and alert all night.

(why did they bring torches when it was still light out?) thought Jade as she thought about the civilians who attacked Naruko (how long did they intend to torture you? Throughout the night? Why didn’t any ninjas help you?) the image of Naruko’s hope filled eyes flashed through her mind (how many times did you scream for help only to be ignored?) she gently touched Naruko’s blonde hair feeling an intense urge to protect the girl swell up in her (I won’t let them get you back, you won’t have to suffer anymore)

The Cave ninja smirked as she felt her clone leave the village and head their way with supplies. They just had to get those supplies and it will be a mad dash for her village …


	2. Consequences

**(** I’m thinking)

“I’m speaking”

**“Demon / summon / ghost speaking”**

**(Demon / summon / ghost thinking)**

/Author’s comments\

**Pairing: Hentai F/M - Naruko x**

The Cave ninja smirked as she felt her clone leave the village and head their way with supplies. They just had to get those supplies and it will be a mad dash for her village …

XXXXXXXXXX

Naruko suddenly bolted upright as a drop of water hit her forehead and looked around in a panic when she saw the kunoichi was missing “Jade!”

“it’s alright Naruko, I’m out here” Jade smiled as she came back in the cave “I’m sorry little one, I wanted to check that no one was following us”

“we aren’t, right?” Naruko asked hopefully as she hugged the kunoichi.

Jade shook her head “no we aren’t” (but why? Demon vessels are considered valuable … did something happen? … or do these fools not care?) Jade pushed her thoughts aside and started breakfast by grilling a couple fish she caught. When the rain stopped a nearby stream flooded and started flowing next to the cave. She was able to get close to the stream without leaving Naruko alone. As the fish cooked she wondered what was happening in Konoha and hoped her clone has answers.

“Jade … what’s the village hidden in the Caves like?” the little girl asked curiously as she nibbled her cooked fish.

“it’s a beautiful and dangerous place. It started as a village of refugees a long time ago, before Konoha even. The village grew in secret and it is very powerful despite having only women … I would tell you more, but I can’t until I get you there” said Jade as she tossed her fish skeleton down and buried it and Naruko’s so that no trace of their presence was left behind. Jade then packed everything away into her storage scroll. The kunoichi scanned the area and nodded in satisfaction that no one could trace her. With Naruko secured on her back she took off into the trees.

The obvious change in direction compared to the way they were traveling before made Naruko curious “why are we going this way now?”

“you have a good sense of direction little one. Well I wanted to go a very different direction to see if anyone was following then double back a bit and go the way we need” she explained to the young girl.

“oh … oh! I get it! It’s to confuse anyone who might find our trail, right? They won’t know which way to go?” exclaimed Naruko.

“that’s exactly right Naruko. Oh you would make a great spy … or assassin” Jade pondered playfully. A proud smile came to her lips from behind the black mask “we’re going to meet my clone and grab the extra supplies before running to Cave … thankfully that storm erased our scents so we don’t need to worry”

With a nod signaling that she understood Naruko held on to the ninja’s neck “hey Jade … what can kunoichis do?”

“oh many things! Bounty hunters are a specialty in Cave and assassins. Spies are very skilled too. Then there’s Breeders” Jade bit her tongue and scolded herself for bringing up that profession with a five year old, but it was too late now so she decided to explain a little more when she saw a curious look cross the girl’s innocent face “a Breeder is a brave woman who uses her own body to collect abilities from other villages. It’s one of the oldest kunoichi professions, but it’s your choice. No one can make you be a breeder or any of the other professions” she added deliberately trying to avoid the topic of how the ‘abilities’ are ‘collected’ “of course there are other careers too, why do you ask?”

A sad pout formed on the blonde’s lips “the hokage … I heard him saying that women shouldn’t be ninjas because they aren’t as strong as men and they would be best suited …” Naruko paused a moment to remember Sarutobi’s exact words “spying from brothels, relieving shinobi’s needs and increasing the number of future ninjas” she nodded in satisfaction as she repeated exactly what he over heard not realizing that the information she just relayed was effecting the kunoichi she was riding on.

“is that so” commented the raven haired woman who, by some miracle, managed to keep her temper in check (That is the opinion of the hokage? SEXIST PIG! How the fuck can he say something like that when he has fought with women on the battle lines during wars and missions?!) Jade mentally seethed and wished she could go back and drug the bastard’s tea, but since she couldn’t she settled for focusing her anger on fixing the impression the stupid thoughtless comment made on the girl’s mind “the first ‘kunoichi’ were ladies who worked in brothels and delivered information they over heard or seduced out of men, however, times are different. Despite what older people think women can extract information in many ways … hell, I just posed as a tourist … though some use those tactics, with the right skills women don’t need to rely on those tactics anymore, do you understand?”

Naruko tilted her head and nodded “yes I think… I’m glad … ooh that’s your clone?” Naruko’s eyes widened in amazement as another Jade in civilian clothes joined the in the trees.

“yep” Jade chuckled at the excited look on the girl’s face. The clone handed over a scroll filled with supplies and disappeared in a puff of smoke as it was dispelled. The clone’s memories flooded Jade’s mind. Something about the content of them memories made the ninja stiffen so much that Naruko noticed.

“is something wrong Jade?” Naruko asked.

“no little one … go to sleep, we will be there in a few days” said Jade stiffly as she jumped back into the trees …

XXXXXXXXXX

“has everything been fixed with that incident with Cloud?” asked Sarutobi as he settled in his chair with a pipe.

Hiashi Hyuga nodded with a sad smile “yes, my brother took my place as the killer of the Cloud ninja who took my daughter and was executed in my place … the matter was resolved”

“good, good” Sarutobi took a long drag of his pipe and blew out a puff of smoke “has anyone seen the demon vessel?”

Shikaku shrugged “my clan members went looking, but couldn’t find her … no surprise really after that storm though. I bet the civilians had fun with her again too so she might not show up for a while”

“yes … she will be a useful and loyal asset” said Sarutobi.

“and powerful” said Koharu. Sarutobi huffed at the comment thinking it was a bit ridiculous … he never believed Naruko, or any woman, could handle the life of a ninja, but she will do what is needed for Konoha.

XXXXXXXXXX

“wow … what an beautiful forest” said Naruko in a hushed voice as she looked up at the massive ancient trees in the dense forest. It was enchanting, but with step they took on the ground her head began to hurt “Jade … my head hurts” Naruko was not a whiny child by any means, but she could tell something was strange.

“ah … you are feeling the special chakra warping abilities of these trees. It really effects those with lots of chakra and it’s far worse on ninjas with fully developed chakra coils without special training to fight its effects … don’t worry little one, it will stop once we’re in Cave” said Jade as she picked up the small girl and balanced her on her hip before continuing through the forest from the ground.

After several minutes of walking they came upon a valley of stones. Naruko tried to see what happened, but whatever Jade did was too fast for her to see. It succeeded though. A stone sank into the ground making an opening that Jade immediately jumped into. As the stone when back into its original position Naruko’s throbbing headache vanished, but they were consumed by darkness. The little blonde was once again blind, but she didn’t worry since Jade didn’t seem to have a problem navigating the vast cave system without a shred of light to guide her.

Some strange sound echoed though the cave and suddenly a boulder rolled out of the way. Naruko had to shield her eyes as she was hit with the bright light of the sun, but as her eyes adjusted she saw a stone stair case and her eyes widened as they ascended the stairs.

They were on an island! A beautiful island surrounded by a series of cliffs and in the center of the island was a large bustling village.

“wow … how? …” the little blonde could barely form a coherent sentence as she stared in awe at the new place that she could hopefully call home.

“the cave system we were just in runs under the ocean … the walls are reinforced with seals so nothing can happen. If you get lost you become shark bait” said Jade a little too casually as she removed her mask and savored the breeze brushing her face. Naruko gulped and made a mental note to pay attention when she’s taught how to navigate the caves when she starts training.

“where do we go first?” Naruko asked eagerly. In her e4xcitement she didn’t see Jade hold up her mask and turn it three times before putting it away.

Jade chuckled “well first I need to report in and explain your situation … I hope that will be enough”

“hmm? What do you mean Jade?” asked Naruko.

The kunoichi simply smiled “it’s nothing you will need to worry about Naruko. Now remember Queen Reine is the leader and the two old croons, Yobaba and Yumi, are her advisors and former ninjas. Yobaba wears a pink kimono and Yumi wears blue” explained Jade as they walked through the busy streets. Naruko nodded as she tried to memorize what Jade had told her. She was already liking this place … no one was glaring at her at all, in fact a couple women stopped to say she was cute and welcome her!

Finally she and Jade came to a odd looking white building with a bat statue in front of it. The two guards standing next to the main doors looked at them “good to see you’re back safely Jade … well hello sweetheart, I’m Gina and my friend here is Lulu, what’s your name?” the guard in red smiled as the guard in black waved.

Naruko blushed shyly “I’m Naruko, nice to meet you”

“I’m here to report in” stated Jade and the guards stepped out of the way letting them through the doors. Naruko felt strange when she saw the look of concern on the guards’ faces … why were they looking at Jade that way?

“Jade?” Naruko whimpered as they approached the three women Jade told her about … sure they smiled at her, but she could tell that they weren’t happy with Jade.

“you’ll be fine little one” said Jade as she kneeled in front of Queen Reine, Yobaba and Yumi. It was supposed to be comforting, but Naruko couldn’t help but worry … did saving her get Jade in trouble?

This was a secret village for a reason, you can’t just bring people in without consequences …


	3. Luck

**(** I’m thinking)

“I’m speaking”

**“Demon / summon / ghost speaking”**

**(Demon / summon / ghost thinking)**

/Author’s comments\

**Pairing: Hentai F/M - Naruko x**

**Last Time:**

This was a secret village for a reason, you can’t just bring people in without consequences …

XXXXXXXXXX

Queen Reine smiled softly at the adorable child standing next to Jade. The little girl looked nervous “it’s quite alright sweetheart, you don’t have to kneel” she spoke softly as the girl was about to follow Jade’s example and kneel “now what is your name sweetheart?”

The blonde girl blushed lightly and felt calmer do to the comforting smile “I’m Naruko U-Uzumaki”

“Naruko … a lovely name. You must be hungry after traveling with Jade. My ninjas can be a hand full” Reine gave an exasperated sigh.

“hey! We heard that!” Gina chirped from outside making Naruko giggle despite the situation.

“serves you right for not closing the door” Reine chuckled “Lulu be a dear and take little Naruko to get some food and fresh clothes” she was eager to hear what possessed Jade to bring the girl into the village. Jade wasn’t normally so impulsive, but this child looks half starved and was only wearing a large cloak so there must’ve been a good reason behind Jade’s actions.

The pretty purple eyed guard wearing black practically skipped into the room “I’d love too!” she beamed as she scooped up the small blonde “come on Naruko, lets go shopping and yes, I am much more fun than Jade” Lulu poked her tongue out at Jade playfully. Naruko smiled as Jade rolled her eyes, but as she was being carried out of the room she looked at Jade.

Yumi, the elderly advisor wearing blue, chuckled as soon as Naruko was taken away and the door was shut “she has good instincts … she knows you’re in trouble” she said, the air in the room grew tense.

“now I believe an explanation is needed, Jade Terre” said Yobaba sternly as she adjusted her pink kimono.

“yes and don’t leave one detail out” said Queen Reine seeming indifferent.

Jade nodded, her eyes looked at them, but she remained kneeling “I went on my mission to Konoha. After less than a week I was able to get the information needed on security and the main clans as needed” she handed Yobaba a scroll she unsealed from belt “I was getting ready to leave the next morning, but I noticed a strange change in the actives of the civilians. It was only 4:00 in the evening when I looked out the window and saw a mob of people carrying torches. Some of which were already lit”

It was clear to the three people listening that this wasn’t going to be pretty. Jade was already clenching her fist as she continued her narration …

“I thought this was odd so I went after them, while leaving a clone in my place in case someone became suspicious. At first it almost seemed like a festival of sorts. Everyone stood in a circle and a woman stood up to say something. Instead everyone seemed to be waiting for something. That turned out to be Naruko. She was dragged naked into the center of the circle and the woman accused her of murder-”

Yobaba raised an eyebrow “murderer? She’s but a child!”

Jade nodded “I was confused as well, but the woman went on to describe little Naruko as a demon … I believe Naruko is the demon vessel holding the nine tailed fox-”

“What? Jade do you realize what was done?” demanded a furious Yobaba. Yumi and Reine sighed, Yobaba never could hold her tongue until the end of a report.

The ninja flinched “yes I do-”

Yobaba glared “I don’t think you do! You took Konoha’s prized weapon-”

“they were going to torture her-”

The pink elder snapped again not caring that she interrupted Jade “those foolish ninja villages all practice that with demon vessels though it always goes terribly! They all stupidly think it’s necessary to get the host under their thumb! The civilians are allowed to torment and the ninjas are there to ‘save’. A horrible mix to manipulate-”

“I know, but being raped would’ve shattered her!” Jade said defiantly. Silence descended on the room. That was a huge taboo in this woman only village.

The queen frowned “no more interruptions. Jade continue”

“yes my queen” Jade took a second to remember were she was and calm down before proceeding “they dragged Naruko into the circle. When it became clear they what she was I checked for chakra signatures. There were no ninjas around to control the situation”

The three woman listening in didn’t show it, but they were not happy with this information. The point of torturing demon vessels, which they never agreed with, was supposed to create dependency on the ninja side of the village and manipulate the vessel, but it had to be controlled. You can’t allow the mind to break. After all what good is an unstable weapon?

“I saw the civilians pin Naruko to the ground and some men came towards her, while removing their pants. I couldn’t just stand by and watch so I cast the ‘Cave Dweller’s Cloak’ and snuck up to Naruko. I gave her the choice to come with me or stay. She choose to come” said Jade with a smile. It must have been scary for Naruko “I left with Naruko immediately and didn’t stop rung until I saw a storm coming”

Yumi nodded “how many ninjas came after you?” the Konoha ninjas may not have been at that event, but they were surely keeping tabs on the girl.

“none” Jade answered sadly.

“not one ninja came for you? Why?” asked Reine patiently while shooting Yobaba a warning glare. Advisors should know their place.

“yes my queen. My clone remained in the village to get more supplies in the morning. When it did so it overheard that a young Hyuga girl was nearly kidnaped. Though the kidnaper was killed there were serious political repercussions since the kidnaper turned out to be a Cloud ninja and Cloud signed a treaty just a day earlier. Konoha never came for Naruko” Jade bit back the urge to growl.

Queen Reine and her advisors stayed silent as they digested the information …

XXXXXXXXXX

Naruko smiled, she liked wearing clothes that fit her. The black pants, white shirt and dark purple jacket were simple, but nice “thank you Lulu for buying me all this”

“it was nothing at all! Now I’m hungry, where would you like to eat?” the brunette asked happily gently urging the shy little girl to pick whichever place she wanted. It really wasn’t a big deal. Naruko didn’t ask for much even after Lulu made it clear that the queen was supplying the money … Reine prefers not to let her ninjas use their personal money to pay so in certain cases, like this where Lulu was ordered to take care of Naruko, a budget is set aside.

“umm … over there?” Naruko sniffed the mouthwatering aroma and pointed to the restaurant it was coming from.

Lulu grinned “dumplings! Oh you’re a girl after my own heart!” the pair went into the restaurant and got seat “something wrong Naruko?” she asked as she noticed a flicker of worry in the blonde’s pretty blue eyes.

“is … is Jade going to be alright?” Naruko asked quietly. She wasn’t sure if it was alright to ask.

The guard sighed softly “there’s no point in lying. Jade did break a law … I don’t know, but I don’t think her punishment will be harsh” she couldn’t believe it would be. There law has changed years ago to be far less strict on ninjas who bring abused, neglected or abandoned children in the village. Most get a fine after an investigation found that they didn’t cover their tracks.

During the search for clothes Lulu saw how bad the poor girl was. Skin and bones was an accurate way to describe it. Naruko was too skinny! Lulu was horrified that she could count the bones protruding through the skin. There were a few scars marring the girl’s back that looked like someone took a rake and slashed her skin. On top of that was the notable flinch every time someone moved too fast or brushed against her or when a noise was too loud. Yes, this girl fit the criteria for an abused child …

“you think so?” Naruko looked up hopefully.

“I don’t know the details, but she should be fine” said Lulu choosing her words carefully. She didn’t want to make any promises. As long as this girl had no connections to ninjas on came from a prized clan then there shouldn’t be an issue.

XXXXXXXXXX

Queen Reine tapped her chin in thought “this isn’t a simple problem Jade. On one hand Yobaba is correct, you took a great risk to our safety by bring her here. However you acted to protect and it seems you did cover your tracks” said Reine as she saw a bird flutter down to he perch next to her. The green beetle wiggling in the sharp beak signaled the border units found no trail. The border unit always checks even if a foreigner is not involved. A key word to a trained bird will tell the bird to catch a certain bug. Red means a trail was found and green means everything is clear. It’s done this way because trained birds are easy to single out with things tied to them, but not if they carry things like bugs. Messages are hidden in many ways …

“I know my queen” Jade nodded obediently. She knew why the law is the way it is … to protect the people within, but she didn’t care what the punishment is since there was no way Naruko will be going back. No one here would ever send a child back to that hell …

Yumi’s eyes widened “Uzumaki … oh my”

Yobaba looked at her blue counterpart “have you thought of something my old friend?”

“things work in mysterious ways” Yumi muttered cryptically before looking at the queen “it seems a certain promise can be full filled” she looked at Jade “this was when you were very young so you wouldn’t remember, but this village intercepted a distress call between Whirlpool and Konoha. Whirlpool pleaded for help, but Konoha denied them. Cave however took up that plea. Unfortunately we were cut off by ninjas from Cloud who combined with Mist’s forces destroyed. We were able to secretly destroy much of the enemies, but it was too late. No one from Whirlpool survived … at least that’s what I thought. Out of respect we took everything that survived and kept it safe while promising to help and give it to any survivor”

Jade hesitantly looked up “I thought Uzumakis from Whirlpool had red hair”

Yumi shrugged “they did, but she might have a blonde parent and simply takes after them. I’ll have her test the blood seal on one of the scrolls to be sure. However amazing this revelation is it shouldn’t hold any bearing on your situation”

“I understand, elder Yumi” Jade moved her eyes back to the floor.

Reine leveled her gaze on the ninja before her “you will be on suspension for ten years and pay a fine over that time” Jade inwardly sighed in relief “since you have medical experience you will take a job at the Breeder clinic. In your spare time you will be spent taking care of our newest resident”

Jade’s eyes widened and she looked at the queen “newest resident? My queen do you mean …” Jade let her sentence trail off with a smile.

“yes” Reine’s emotionless mask broke into a soft smile “you will be Naruko’s guardian until she turns fifteen whether she becomes a ninja or not. Understood?”

“yes my queen, I understand” said Jade.

Yobaba glared “this is a punishment so stop smiling” Jade sweat dropped and tried to stop smiling … she wasn’t very successful …

Yumi rolled her eyes a her fellow advisor’s declaration “I will bring a scroll to your home once you’re both settled”

“that will be all Jade. You are dismissed” said the queen who smiled as Jade nearly ran from the room.

“that was hardly a punishment” Yobaba grumbled.

Reine sighed “those laws exist to reprimand those who don’t understand the full extent of what they did. Jade however did everything to ensure that no one followed her while also ensuring the safety of a child. As far as I’m concerned she did everything possible protect everyone and that loyalty shouldn’t be punished …besides, I don’t think I’d be able to separate Naruko and Jade without it coming back to bite me”

Both advisors chuckled, Jade did seem to have a protective side when it came to Naruko … not unlike a mother and everyone knows not to separate mother from child …

XXXXXXXXXX

“Naruko!” Lulu and Naruko turned from their spot on a park bench to see Jade coming towards them.

“Jade!” Naruko launched herself off the bench and into Jade’s arms “I’m sorry for getting you in trouble”

The raven chuckled “it was my decision and I don’t regret anything”

“we just had dinner, but we were thinking of getting some ice cream. Want to come?” Lulu smiled with a light blush tinting her cheeks as she watched Jade … and Naruko too. They each got some ice cream at a nearby vendor and sat down at he park bench “so what was your punishment Jade?”

“nothing too extreme” Jade said casually. As she explained the points of her punishment she watched Naruko’s face change from sad to confused to finally very happy …


	4. Getting Started

**(** I’m thinking)

“I’m speaking”

**“Demon / summon / ghost speaking”**

**(Demon / summon / ghost thinking)**

/Author’s comments\

**Pairing: Hentai F/M - Naruko x Kimimaro**

**Last Time:**

“nothing too extreme” Jade said casually. As she explained the points of her punishment she watched Naruko’s face change from sad to confused to finally very happy …

XXXXXXXXXX

Jade heard crying in the middle of the night and got out of bed. She softly opened the door to Naruko’s room “are you ok Naruko?”

“yeah … bad dream” the little girl sniffled. Nightmares were common for her, but now she had someone to help her feel better. She has been here living with Jade for almost a week now.

“I see. Want to talk about it?” asked Jade softly as she laid down next to Naruko and cuddled her close.

Naruko stayed silent for a minute as she relaxed against the ninja’s chest and sighed happily to the feeling of Jade’s fingers running through her hair “it … it was about my fourth birthday … a ninja with a dog mask came and dragged me to a group of people … they beat me and said the scariest things and then threw me into a river” Naruko whimpered and began to tremble as she recalled the vivid dream, which she knew was a memory.

The raven haired woman cuddled the girl closer to sooth her “it’s ok, they can’t get you now … shh go back to sleep, I’ll stay with you … we have a busy morning a head”

The little girl smiled and slowly drifted off to a much more peaceful sleep. Jade watched the adorable blonde’s sleeping face with a sense of satisfaction that she did the right thing even more powerful than before. If even the ninjas of that foolish village were tormenting her why would they think Naruko would side with them at all? Yes, Naruko will be better off here and tomorrow she would get everything to start Naruko’s training.

The rest of the night was very peaceful. Both woke up ready for the day. They quickly got dressed and their breakfast was quickly devoured before they left for town to shop. It will be a fun day for both of them. Jade has the day off from the breeders clinic so she was going to get everything Naruko will need for the academy including a weapon that wasn’t the standard kunai or shuriken.

It was a little early since the academy doesn’t start for a couple months, but there’s no harm in starting early. Besides Jade wanted to help Naruko with chakra control because she suspected the little girl will have trouble with that what with having so much chakra. A common trait for demon vessels and if she was a genuine Uzumaki too chakra control will be even more problematic …

“hey Jade what do you do at the Breeders clinic?” asked Naruko as they went through the shops.

Jade smiled down at the curious child. Now that Naruko has decided to be a ninja she may as well be blunt about it “do you remember what I said a breeder was?”

“yes, a brave woman who collects abilities from other places using her body” Naruko chirped.

“exactly! The abilities that are collected are called bloodlines. Bloodlines can be passed from parent to child like the Sharingan in your village. First a spy like myself will get information on the family including risks and number of men in the clan or family. The spy will return and give all that information to the Breeders clinic. The Breeders clinic selects the best suited woman of those who volunteer for the job, known as a Breeder, and that woman goes to the village and seduces a man from the clan. The Breeder will cast a special jutsu on herself to help promote fertility and she will become pregnant with the man’s child. She will quickly return to the village and stay at the clinic so her pregnancy can be monitored closely. I am one of the medics who help Breeders through their pregnancy until their baby is born and after too” Jade explained as they went into a weapons shop. Over the time they have been together she realized that Naruko was a clever girl and would understand.

“wow babies …” Naruko pondered over what she was just told as Jade spoke to the strong looking woman behind the counter.

“morning Sally, we’re here for a set of training kunai and shuriken and a nonstandard weapon” said Jade.

Sally grinned “oh really? So you have decided to become a ninja then Naruko?” she chuckled as the girl nodded happily “you’re going to be a tough cookie, I just know it. Alright … one set of the standard training set plus cleaning supplies and if you follow me Naruko I’ll show you the nonstandard weapons” said he strong clerk as she set a set of weapons and a jar on the counter. Sally then guided Naruko to the back room where there were shelves upon shelves of various types of weapons were displayed “now have a look around and see if anything screams out your name”

“ _oh Sally do you have any senbon too and smoke bombs?_ ” Jade yelled from the other room.

“going all out huh? Yeah one sec” Sally called back before looking back down at the little girl “I’ll be right back. Don’t pick up anything too heavy or you could get hurt if it falls, ok?” Naruko nodded “good girl”

Once Sally left the little girl alone she started looking around at the different weapons displayed. The large axe scared her. Naruko didn’t like the looks of the spiked club. The swords and daggers looked interesting, but none really looked right to her so she continued down the hall.

There was an aisle with bottles, metal claws, sashes and whips. Those were more like what she wanted so she went down that aisle. Beautiful carved weapons that were very dangerous hung innocently on the walls or laid on the shelves. It took a while, but just as Sally made her way back Naruko spotted a seemingly misplaced pair of gloves and picked them up …

Sally came around the corner and raised an eyebrow at the items in the blonde’s tiny hands “oh so you took a interest in those!”

“what are they? They look like gloves” asked Naruko. She could understand the other odd weapons. The bottles can hold poisons or other things. The sashes had hidden compartments for weapons, but these looked so … innocent …

“it’s not the gloves really, it’s the nearly invisible micro fiber threads coiled around the fingers. The gloves themselves are more just a means to help someone train to control the threads, but it has been decades since someone has mastered them … if I remember right the one who masters them can use the wires to block, attack, restrain and kill with little to no visible movement and without the gloves or chakra” Sally explained while wondering if the girl could manage it.

Naruko smiled at the description and looked at the gloves “I like these”

“ok” Sally took the gloves under the impression that she will get the gloves returned when the child gets frustrated and gives up “alright that’s your nonstandard weapon out of the way. Lets go get back to Jade before she buys out my store” Naruko giggled and followed Sally out to the main room where they found Jade looking over training dummies.

Jade looked up and smiled “so what did you go with?” Sally held up the weapon of choice as she went behind the counter “micro fibers? Don’t want the easy things huh” the medic chuckled “I’ll take the dummy too” she said as she pulled out a storage scroll to put everything in.

Finally they let the weapons shop and moved on to he next store, which was a book store. Naruko’s eyes were practically sparkling as she looked at the book titles Jade selected. Jade had started teaching her to read and write once they started living together … well they sort of started once Jade saved her. Jade would show Naruko her storage scroll and point out the different letters and words. She only just started, but was improving very quickly.

“now that’s ten textbooks, will there be anything else Ms. Jade?” asked a bubbly teenage girl from behind the counter with blue hair named Ren.

“umm … yes, could I have Naruko scanned to see what taijutsus would be best for her? I’d like to get that done outside of school and get her a little a head of the curve” Jade said. She knew Naruko was still recovering from a life of starvation and she won’t be doing to much physical until she’s at a healthy weight. Plus she will have problems with chakra control. It will help to get her a head in some areas …

Ren was bouncing excitedly “of course! Of course!” the bubbly teen danced over to a white platform “come here cutie!” Naruko blushed and ran over to Ren who scooped her up and set her on the slightly high platform “ok cutie, in a second a set of seals will appear. All you have to do is step on the blue seals or punch in front when you see the red ones” Ren explained cheerily.

Naruko nodded and the scan began. It was like a game and the little girl found it really fun! The scan only lasted a minute and once it stopped Ren grabbed her and cuddled her close.

“you are just so cute!” Ren squealed as she hugged the struggling blonde who was pouting much to Jade’s amusement …

*beep*

The teen looked at he platform and a few names appeared “Ooh! Some fun ones and a sword style one too!” Ren went to a case behind the counter filled with scrolls and pulled out four scrolls. Without setting Naruko down she handed them to Jade.

Jade sweat dropped “can you give me back Naruko?”

“I’ll consider her payment for the scrolls” Ren chirped cheekily and snuggled he blonde … after a few seconds of an awkward silence she pouted “oh ok” she finally handed the little blonde to Jade and they left after paying.

“now there’s only one more stop left and it’s more for me. I need to restock some medical supplies, but I will get you a Warp stone while we are there” commented Jade as she set Naruko down and held her hand as they walked towards the last store.

“Warp stone?” Naruko looked up at her guardian in confusion.

“yes … you remember feeling weird when we entered the forest, right?” Jade saw Naruko nod as they entered the store “well that special training I mentioned that is used to survive that is what the Warp stone is used for. It’s an orb fashioned from the earth under those trees and filled with powder from those trees. The chakra warping ability is weaker than the trees, but it will steer you in the right direction … here’s one” Jade pulled a seemingly glass orb that contained some blue powder “you can feel the stone push and pull your chakra and you will slowly learn to push and pull back. When your chakra control gets stronger than the effects of the stone you will be able to reach the powder inside” Jade pushed her chakra in to make the powder swirl around “the powder will make it even more difficult”

Naruko beamed “cool, will it be painful?” the memory of that headache she had worried her a bit.

The ninja chuckled “no, here, hold it” Jade handed the little girl the orb. Naruko smiled when all she felt was a prickling on her hands “usually you wouldn’t start this for a few years, but I think you would benefit greatly by starting early. Which color would you like?” she lifted Naruko up so she could see all the colors.

“ummm … orange” Naruko grinned and pointed to a clear orb filled half way with bright orange powder.

Jade set her down “then orange it shall be” she exclaimed as she took the stone along with other things she needed and paid at the counter. The older woman behind the counter handed Naruko a little piece of chocolate before they left.

“it good to see you two up and about” Naruko and Jade turned around to see the old advisor Yumi in her signature purple kimono coming towards them “I think I have some things that rightfully belong to you”

The little girl tilted her head curiously as she swallowed her chocolate “something of mine?” she didn’t recall ever owning anything until Jade bought her some things so what could the elder mean?

“why don’t we go sit down?” Jade suggested as she put her most recent purchases I her scroll.

Yumi smiled “yes lets” the trio found a nice bench in the shade and Yumi pulled a scroll out of her sleeve “you may not know this Naruko, but years ago there was a clan of strong people called the Uzumaki clan. They no longer exist, but this scroll will tell us if you are related to them”

“really?! How?” Naruko gazed at the ordinary looking scroll.

“a little drop of blood right on this seal will tell us everything we need to know” said Yumi as she pointed to the seal on the scroll. Jade handed Naruko a kunai and with a little poke on the little blonde’s thumb the blood dripped onto the seal …

Barely a second passed before the scroll popped open …

“that answers that question. Why don’t you both come with me? There is an entire vault of things you should have Naruko” Yumi took them to an underground vault and let them in … she let Jade have the key until Naruko was older, but now the little girl was looking around at all the things “I can’t help but wonder if the third hokage knew about Naruto’s heritage -... Jade, what was that look about?” she asked quietly so as not to disturb Naruko.

“what look?” Jade asked innocently while avoiding the elder’s eyes.

“you know what look Jade. What about the third hokage made you cringe other than the shear stupidity he showed handling Naruko?” Yumi could tell there was more to this.

Jade sighed in defeat “weelll … the third hokage seems to have certain views on female ninjas” as Naruko was looking at a stack of scrolls Jade explained exactly what Naruko had told her about what the hokage believes a kunoichi is good for …

“HE SAID THAT AND AROUND A CHILD NO LESS! I’LL MURDER HIM!” Yumi shrieked startling the blonde who ended up being buried under a stack of scrolls.

As Jade freed Naruko a certain old goat in a Konoha woke up with a feeling of dread …


	5. Scroll it Up

**I don’t own Naruto and I don’t make a profit off my stories**

**Warnings - sexual content, GORE, language, violence**

**(** I’m thinking)

“I’m speaking”

**“Demon / summon / ghost speaking”**

**(Demon / summon / ghost thinking)**

/Author’s comments\

**Pairing: Hentai F/M - Naruko x Kimimaro**

**Last Time:**

As Jade freed Naruko a certain old goat in a Konoha woke up with a feeling of dread …

XXXXXXXXXX

Hiruzen Sarutobi looked up from his paperwork when he heard someone come “it has been a while Koharu” he smiled as he saw his old teammate, but he blinked as the old woman remained silent and seemed to be studying his face “what? Is something on my face? Did I get ink on me again?” he asked while patting his face looking for any stray ink.

Koharu straightened her back and leveled the hokage with a stern glare “I’ve always known that you had a sexist point of view on pretty much everything, but I thought you were smart enough to keep your opinions quiet especially around our clients”

“wait what?! I don’t think like that … honest” he argued weakly under the old woman’s glare.

“sure, whatever you say” snapped Koharu coldly clearly not believing it “but just so you are aware we lost a few treaties because it got out that you think females are best suited for brothels and you have some explaining to do to the new Fire Daimyo who, guess what … is a woman” she hissed in irritation and promptly stormed out of the office.

The hokage flinched as the door slammed harshly “ever since Naruko disappeared everything has been going down hill” he sighed sadly.

Over the past few weeks he found himself getting more and more worried about the small five year old. He was kicking himself for not taking keeping a closer eye on her and now she was gone. It may have been common practice in other villages to hurt demon vessels, but Konoha didn’t do it on such a level until this time.

Kushina, the former vessel was only teased for her hair color and except for one kidnapping attempt, but that wasn’t a plot to manipulate the demon vessel. Naruko is different. She didn’t just have the demon sealed in her at a young age, but right after her birth and worse, right after the nine tailed demon attacked the village. The civilians were heartbroken and needed to blame someone for those who were killed …

So the brilliant third hokage had a plan … a kill two birds with one stone deal. He let the villagers attack the demon vessel to vent their anger and train her to be their weapon at the same time … he severely underestimated the villagers’ cruelty. As another brilliant move he had another ninja pose as Kakashi Hatake in full anbu uniform and mask.

Being the fourth hokage’s student he world of want to have Naruko, his sensei’s daughter, on his genin team so Sarutobi thought giving Naruko a fearful impression of the man who used Kakashi’s voice, hair and body type would help keep her in line. Before you ask Sarutobi had to have some else make Kakashi scary because Kakashi would rip out his eyes before hurting Naruko. The attacks on Naruko were arranged to happen when Kakashi was away on a mission.

If Kakashi or heaven forbid Tsunade and Jiraiya found out about any of this … he would be so dead …

A bird landed on his window and he pulled the message off its leg “oooooooh shit … I have to find Naruko”

Jiraiya was returning soon to check on Naruko. The sage wasn’t supposed to draw attention to her and originally agreed to stay away to protect her, but he couldn’t help it. He had to see her ...

Hiruzen gulped, he had to cover some things up … and stall for time by making up some sort of excuse for why he can’t see Naruko … maybe Naruko is sick- no … that will make Jiraiya get Tsunade and then he’d be in even deeper trouble!

XXXXXXXXXX

“YAY! I did it!” Naruko yelled happily.

Jade came in from the other room and grinned as she saw the little girl run up to her with her orange Warp Stone that she had been playing with everyday for about a month “lets see”

Naruko held the stone orb and focused. After a few seconds the orange sand like saw dust jumped. It wasn’t a smooth spin like Jade showed her, but it was a huge step for Naruko. With another two weeks until school starts she will be ahead of the rest of the class in no time at all. Maybe Jade didn’t have to worry after all …

“that’s remarkable Naruko! I do believe someone has earned an treat-oops!” Jade saw Naruko start to get dizzy and scooped her and the stone up before they hit the floor “someone needs a break anyway so how about some cake?”

Blue eyes sparkled “Cake!” she cheered excitedly making Jade chuckle.

“you have been doing so well Naruko. You are ready for school and you still have two weeks left. I’m so proud of you” the ninja smiled as she set the girl down at the table. Jade went to the frig and pulled out a chocolate cake with a few pieces missing. The cake was made by Jade for Naruko in celebration of her completing her first storage seal. Jade removed another slice and placed the decadent treat in front of the adorable blonde “here you go … is something wrong Sweety?” she asked as she saw the blonde fiddle nervously and stare at her hands instead of the cake.

Naruko blushed lightly, but didn’t look up “c-can I call you …”

“call me what Naruko?” Jade asked softly, she was curious and worried about the little girl before her. What is so important that it would make this bubbly blonde so nervous?

“can … I call you mommy?” Naruko finally looked up with her big blue eyes looking so hopeful.

Jade felt like her heart was trying to squeeze through her chest. How can one word, five letters, have such a powerful reaction? She always felt a strong attachment to Naruko and wants to see her happy, but does that make her a mother?

“you want to call me mommy?” the ninja asked feeling like this was all surreal.

“yes … you take care of me and tell me stories and help me and don’t think I’m a demon and told me the truth … I always wanted a mommy” before the little girl could say anything else she was pulled into a hug.

“of course you can call me mommy” Jade said softly holding Naruko close to her. This was such a lovely moment, but in the back of her mind Jade knew half of her village will be so jealous. Oh well, she can’t say no to the sweet little girl in front of her. Once Naruko stopped crying tears of happiness she ate her cake “now don’t push yourself anymore today. Leave the Warp stone aside for now and maybe read more of those seal scrolls, but don’t do any seals without me watching” Jade warned. Seals may just seem like harmless writing, but one wrong stroke and things can go very badly.

“ok mommy” Jade was so happy as she watched the little girl hopped off her chair plate in hand and put the plate next to the sink, she was too small to put it in the sink, before going to look at a neat stack of ten scrolls.

Naruko pursed her lips cutely as she pondered which one she wanted to read today. She already read six of them and the last four were history … not her favorite subject, but she wanted to learn and Jade said she could only take ten scrolls out of her vault at a time. Which made some sense because their home would be filled with scrolls and they wouldn’t be able to get out the door if they took everything, but Jade won’t let her go get new ones until she finished the ten she had so with that in mind the little girl slid out one of the unread scrolls.

With one poke on her thumb with a senbon to draw a little blood she wiped it on the seal that was present on about 10% of the Uzumaki scrolls. It was a little weird since most of those secured scrolls were to protect special seal formations and jutsus that were very advanced according to the labels. So advanced that Jade said she shouldn’t touch them for a few years.

So what could be in a simple history scroll that’s so important it needs to be hidden with a blood seal?

The little girl settled in plush living room chair and started reading. She didn’t need much help now with reading except for big words thanks to Jade’s tutoring. At some point she got a little bored and looked up at her black gloves with micro fibers … the were tricky that’s for sure, but she refused to give up on them.

Finally she focused back on her scroll and continued reading. Suddenly it became very interesting and she leapt off her chair “MOMMY! Look Look!” Naruko nearly tripped as she ran over to the ninja who was looking over hospital records for a patient who is having some trouble getting through her pregnancy.

“hm? What is it Naruko?” Jade blinked as the little girl shoved the open scroll in front of her face. She picked it up and read it. Her eyes widened “I don’t remember any of these things being on the inventory Elder Yumi gave me … this says all these weapons and medicines are hidden in a very special seal under the floor of the courtyard in the center of town. If that’s so then they may still be there”

Naruko bounced excitedly “and it says there’s a jutsu to find other Uzumakis. Can I go and see?”

Jade smiled at the bouncy blonde “you need to be a ninja in order to cross the border or a merchant. So you have to graduate first”

“ok, but once I do can I stop over and see?” Naruko asked with pleading blue eyes.

“yes of course. Legally it’s your land I believe, but you have to go with a team … I’ll go too if my suspension is up by then … or maybe I could ask Queen Reine for a pardon. You’ll be 14 when you graduate so I’ll only have a few months left” Jade pondered. It will take time to learn the secrets behind the vast defenses protecting the village of Cave so by the time Naruko and her teammates learn all that she might be allowed to go.

14 … that’s actually two years earlier than the ninja village where she found her little girl. Of course Cave’s academy was far more practical than the civilian based academy in Konoha and Cave’s academy starts at 5 not 8 so their ninjas were far better prepared … and fangirlism is almost nonexistent unlike in Konoha who does very little to weed out issues like that or even help those with chakra issues …

The Warp stone was to help Naruko gain control of her vast amount of chakra, but according to the rumors she heard as a spy Konoha doesn’t do much for those can’t do a certain jutsu or can’t use chakra. If someone was willing to fight then they can become strong. It was unnerving to think of the differences between the unknown village and the self-proclaimed open minded and peaceful village.

How would they have trained Naruko with all that chakra? How can anyone train with all that hate around them? No doubt the hatred would spread to the teachers if she joined that academy at 8. Everyone in Cave knew about the strong little girl keeping a demon imprisoned and the only thing that happened is people gushed at how cute she is. They couldn’t hate her.

Naruko wouldn’t have able to flourish there assuming she survived until she was 8. Over time Naruko told her what her life was like and it was frightening. She didn’t have a home to live in. She ate out of dumpsters and she didn’t even know who her parents were or about the demon sealed inside her. All of which were things Jade told her just last week except for who her mother was since tat was not known yet and she was there to comfort her. Jade was more happy now that she saved Naruko than ever …

“either way you have every right to go Naruko” Jade chuckled as the little girl cheered happily.

XXXXXXXXXX

Yobaba glanced at her fellow advisor “what’s got you so smug lately?”

“revenge is sweet” Yumi smirked cryptically …


	6. School Time

**(** I’m thinking)

“I’m speaking”

**“Demon / summon / ghost speaking”**

**(Demon / summon / ghost thinking)**

/Author’s comments\

**Pairing: Hentai F/M - Naruko x Kimimaro**

**Last Time:**

Yobaba glanced at her fellow advisor “what’s got you so smug lately?”

“revenge is sweet” Yumi smirked cryptically …

XXXXXXXXXX

Jade returned from a quick stop at the clinic and looked for Naruko “Naruko? Where are you? … Naruko? … Naruko answer right now!” panic began to build as she extended her senses to find her daughter … she wasn’t in the house. Both floors were empty of chakra signatures “oh no no … what if something happ- … the training grounds! She better not have! I told her not to train without me around!” she exclaimed as she jumped up and onto the roof with ease and jumped again landing in the back yard.

Just beyond their back yard was a clearing where Jade set up some dummies and targets. It took the seasoned ninja seconds to get there and she froze in horror at the sight of her little blonde child lying out cold on the ground with her micro fiber gloves on “Naruko!” she quickly went over and examined the girl before sighing in immense relief “oh good, she just tired herself out … she’s so stubborn, I swear it’s like we really are related” the raven chuckled softly as she scooped the girl up.

The medic only left to check on her patients for a few hours and to apply a few ‘X only’ jutsus to a few active breeders. Normally she’d have her friend stop over to watch her while she was at the Breeder Clinic, but she wasn’t going to be gone long this time so she let Naruko stay alone this once … and it won’t happen again.

With great care the suspended ninja laid her cute little girl on the bed in Naruko’s room. Once the gloves were slipped off and placed on the side table she removed the shoes and tucked Naruko into bed. With the little blonde safe she went to put their shoes away where they should be before returning to going back to wait for Naruko to wake up. As she waited she tidied up the room.

Kunais laying on the floor were put away and the several scraps of papers from sealing practice were tossed in the trash. As Jade neatened up a pile of scrolls on the little desk blue eyes fluttered open …

“hmmm … what happened?” the blonde blinked.

“why don’t you tell me Naruko” Jade somehow kept a stern face on even when those big blue eyes widened in shock. The ninja placed her hands on her hips “well Naruko …”

Naruko fiddled with the blanket nervously, she knew she was in trouble “I’m sorry mommy”

“sorry for …” Jade stated waiting for Naruko to explain and prove that she understood the situation.

“I’m sorry for practicing with my weapon without you being around” answered the little blonde. A month ago this happened and she was terrified that she would be sent back to Konoha, but Jade said that that will never happen. All the happened was Naruko had her library scrolls taken for a while and no dessert. Granted it still scared her every now and then. She would suddenly make a tiny mistake and actually see the villagers swarming. It was still her biggest fear, but Jade said that the people of her former village were fools and they lost their chance to care for her. Jade says she won’t ever give Naruko back now. She is the little blonde’s mother and that won’t change.

Jade saw that small flicker of fear pass through her daughter’s eyes and smiled softly as she kneeled next to the low child sized bed “do you understand why you shouldn’t do that alone?”

“weapons are dangerous and I could get hurt” Naruko said softly. She knows what weapons can do, but it’s because people have used them on her before. An adorable little squeak slipped past her lips as she was pulled into her mother’s arms and cuddled.

“that’s right Naruko and it’s for me too” Jade said as the little girl snuggled closer to her.

Naruko pouted in confusion “you too?”

“yes … do you realize how scared I was when I saw you in he ground not moving? I don’t know what I would do if I let you get hurt when I could’ve prevented it. I love you my little Naruko” Jade chuckled as she gently wiped a tear from the blonde’s face. Naruko looked so happy “and for giving me a heart attack there will be no dessert” the little blonde pouted cutely “now why did you train so hard that you passed out?”

“school is tomorrow, I wanted to get better at using my gloves” she said nervously.

Jade smiled and shook her head “Naruko school is the time to learn with other people. You aren’t expected to know every weapon perfectly- …” the raven haired ninja blinked in confusion “errrr … Naruko … what do you mean ‘get better at’?” the last time she checked her five year old was still dumbfounded at how to get the gloves to work in order to learn to control the fibers.

“I figured it out!” Naruko leapt from the bed without a single sign of the exhaustion that knocked her out cold not long ago and eagerly picked up her gloves. The gloves were slipped on and Naruko didn’t just move her fingers. The little girl moved her shoulders and hips. Jade’s jaw dropped as the fibers started moving off the fingers and up into the air.

The fibers were only visible at all because of a special wax that is sprayed on trap wires to reveal the wires so they can be avoided. The reason nothing was sold with the gloves is because most things weigh the fibers down too much and training for this weapon is hard enough as it is “see, I did! I can’t believe it took so long!” Naruko grinned happily.

The ninja sweat dropped “umm … Naruko, you know that no one has ever gotten the wires to move in under a year let alone two months, right?”

If it was as easy as wiggling your hips every one could do it, but it wasn’t like that at all. A huge amount of trail and error is involved to find the right combination of movements to get the fibers to respond. If you move your hip or shoulder a fraction too much or not enough nothing will happen. This weapon takes extreme precision and patience, but a five year old is well on her way to mastering it faster that anyone!

“really?” Jade’s sweat drop doubled in size as she looked in the innocent blue eyes.

Heaven forbid Naruko ever gets bored! She will be a handful!

XXXXXXXXXX

Kakashi sighed as he went through some papers at the des next to his bed “damn, why does this have to be so complicated?”

*knock*knock* the silver hared anbu got up to get the door and sweat dropped as he saw a soot covered toad sage who looked like he was electrified “why the hell are there seals all over your windows?” croaked a pained sage.

“sorry Jiraiya … I was testing some security seals” Kakashi chuckled sheepishly as he let Jiraiya limp in.

“why would you need such strong and painful seals?” the sage grumbled.

“oh they aren’t for me” Kakashi eye smiled “there for keeping Naruko safe. I plan to adopt her”

“I see, in that case good job! Is that why you wanted to see me?” the toad sage grinned as the silver haired ninja nodded “that’s good you are going to take care of her, I would’ve done so much sooner if the hokage didn’t insist my job was important … well, he is right, but I don’t like the fact that she’s here alone”

“I feel the same. I’ve been taking lots of missions to save up for anything she will need and as soon as I get this absurd amount of paperwork done I will be her guardian” Kakashi sighed as he shifted through the papers “it feels like I’m getting the run around with this every time I try to get the adoption set up”

Jiraiya frowned “I wouldn’t know, but my permission somewhere should clear things up”

The two ninjas looked through the documents looking for anything to fix it so the godfather can hand over guardianship to Kakashi, but strangely enough it seemed the papers weren’t all there … and it really was looking like something was very off. They didn’t have any time to contemplate it before …

*BOOM* an earth shaking explosion ripped through the air near the place they where they were and blackness descended on them both. After an untold amount of time their eyes opened to the sight of the white ceiling in Konoha hospital. Jiraiya and Kakashi were in beds right next to each other.

“thank heavens you’re both awake” they two bedridden ninjas took a few seconds to realize that the hokage was hovering over them.

“sensei … what happened?” Jiraiya groaned in pain as he tried and failed to sit up.

Sarutobi sighed sadly, as if the news would he was about to reveal was not good “I’m sorry, but … we’ll do whatever it takes to find her” he saw the two patients look dazed for a few seconds, but inevitably realization dawned on them “Naruko was kidnapped. Whoever did made sure to trap the area near your house, Kakashi, in case you were there during the attempt so you were stopped from getting involved and it sadly provided an excellent distraction … we couldn’t identify them, but we will find her”

The cunning hokage mentally breathed a huge sigh of relief as he saw that both ninjas bought his lie. Now he just had to subtly convince them over time that Naruko was being brainwashed. They of would let him get to her first once she’s found and find her they will. After all he had Kakashi and Jiraiya, the village’s best trackers, convinced that he wax only helping.

Of course he knew one slip would still cost him. these ninjas weren’t idiots. As long as he was careful they’ll keep him in the loop …

XXXXXXXXXX

“ok … do you have everything Naruko?” asked Jade as she knelt down in front of a clearly nervous blonde girl.

“yes mommy” murmured Naruko softly as she fiddled with the hem of her blue dress. Blue eyes glanced at the large school building filled with other girls and their mothers wishing them good luck on the first day of school. Naruko was very scared. She has never been allowed around other kids before, meaning in Konoha, so she was at a loss at what to do.

Jade smiled and took the girl’s hands in hers “you will be just fine, all you need to do is be yourself”

“people won’t …” Naruko just tapped her tummy to indicate that she was speaking about the demon residing in her. It has been made public knowledge after she claimed her inheritance as an Uzumaki. No one acted any differently towards her, but so far she has only met adults and kids were a different story.

“oh sweety, no one should treat you any differently and if anyone does tell the teacher. Queen Reine made it clear that you have the chakra of an Uzumaki and a very strong seal holding the demon back and no one should fear you. You may have to fight with these kids in the future so they should learn respect just as you should give them respect” Jade said firmly in her ‘no nonsense’ tone.

“ok” Naruko nodded, but bit her lip nervously “no one will think having no holsters for training weapons is weird?” it was just by luck that the latch to her holster broke before they left tis morning and the only alternative was to use seals. The little girls put a simple storage seal on each wrist. At first she was proud of her solution, but now she was second guessing herself.

The green eyed ninja shook her head “I think it’s perfect. You never liked the holsters anyway so this is great. I have no doubt you’ll make friends with someone who likes seals. You’ll be fine … ready?”

Naruko nodded and Jade kissed her on the head before walking her to class. Jade saw the teacher and made sure to tell her about the storage seal replacement for her backpack and holsters. Then she waved to her baby girl and left …

Well, she tried to leave …

She instead found herself peeking through the classroom window from outside to make Naruko was fine. During the role call Naruko introduced herself as ‘Naruko Terre Uzumaki Namikaze’ and Jade felt so happy, but then tensed as several kids fell silent. Kids can be cruel, but just as Jade was about to worry a girl behind Naruko activated her Sharingan and cast a genjutsu over the little blonde that gave her fluffy fox ears and a tail …

Jade knew it was probably meant to be mean, but instead it made everyone gush over the cute little blonde. The suspended ninja sighed in relief and left as the teacher regained control of the class …


	7. Training and Error

**(** I’m thinking)

“I’m speaking”

**Pairing: Hentai F/M - Naruko x Kimimaro**

**Last Time:**

Jade knew it was probably meant to be mean, but instead it made everyone gush over the cute little blonde. The suspended ninja sighed in relief and left as the teacher regained control of the class …

XXXXXXXXXX

“next up … Naruko!” the young woman with light brown hair pulled back in a ponytail wearing a blue Chinese battle uniform “please display long-range, mid-range, short-range just like the others. You can use your threads and instead of checking your drawing speed for you weapons I’ll test how quickly you unseal them. Just like with the others the time stops when you’re hit with a weapon … circle targets first, ready?” she asked as she signaled to the rest of the students to stay on the grass.

The medic on the sidelines got ready to jump in just in case the little blonde needed it help. Of course no real weapons are used with the five year olds. The ‘weapons’ to dodge are genjutsus that have a little pricking effect when they hit, but there is no such thing as being too prepared. Besides three girls cut themselves because they held the weapon wrong proving that even practice weapons can be dangerous.

Practice makes perfect …

“yes Minami-sensei” Naruko said as she eagerly trotted over to the center of the clearing where ten circular targets hung in various spots around her and ten test dummies. As she waited for the instructor to start the test she started feeling nervous.

A raven haired girl on the sidelines waved “you’ll do great Naruko!” she yelled effectively calming the little blonde down.

The raven was Sana Yuki, the daughter of the lovely Mary Yuki who was a breeder. Mary managed to infiltrate Konoha once before and the mission bore fruit … so to speak. Sana is the child of an Uchiha and not just any Uchiha either. She came from none other than the clan head Fugaku Uchiha. Jade had to go to Konoha again a few years later to get updated information as well as check out the other clans. Sana was also the one who cast the genjutsu on Naruko the first day of school two months ago. After that prank backfired they actually became friends.

Minami chuckled at the girls cheering from the sidelines and set her hand on the switch that will activate the test dummies. She wasn’t going to hit it yet, but soon “3 … 2 … 1 GO!” she flicked the switch and everything started moving.

The test was the students’ first Motion Test of the year and it does an excellent job of helping the children get used to real fights and hitting moving targets. The goal is simple …

All the targets move. Five circular targets will hide behind a tree and suddenly appear again in a different spot thanks to special rigged wires. The five other circular targets either move quickly back and forth or spins revealing a blank side and back again. You must try to hit the targets, but at the slow setting for the younger girls it’s not too difficult. It will get faster each time they use it and get used to motion and speed … your enemy won’t just stand there after all. These things are necessary to learn and it’s best to start young.

Then there were the wooden training dummies …

Five of those dummies jump into the trees surrounding the training grounds, while the other five jump back and forth in the treetops or walk towards them. After a couple seconds the hidden dummies emerge at random times and toss a genjutsu weapon at the future ninjas, which they must try to dodge as they take out the dummies. The dummies didn’t have red target signs on them, but the girls were told to aim for the chest in this level until they cover the fatal points of the human body in a couple years.

There are variations of the test that will be used too. For example different speeds are used or different dummies made of synthetic flesh. The dummies will at some point throw real weapons and some circular targets will explode.

Sometimes the instructor will allow teams…

Or program the dummies to attack at sound in order to test stealth …

Or the instructor will ask questions during the test that must be answered mid attack to get kids used to thinking on the run …

The little girls won’t have to worry about the test being dangerous for a couple years, but it will get there …

Faster than the instructor expected, the little girl unsealed and threw six shuriken and two kunai at the circular targets. Naruko did manage to take out eight of the targets, but now the dummies were throwing ‘weapons’ at her. Two walking dummies moved toward her and her threads came alive from her gloves in order to shred one dummy as she stabbed the other with a kunai. Unfortunately she doesn’t have enough control over her threads to stop it and the dummy was still moving, but she recovered by stabbing the dummy. She rolled out of the way of a weapon that nearly hit her and took out the first weapon throwing dummy she could find by throwing her kunai. She also threw two senbon to take out the last circular targets.

A kunai appeared in her hand and she hit the dummy that tried to throw a weapon at her before spinning on her heel and throwing two shuriken at two jumping dummies disabling them as well. After taking out two more weapon dummies she winced as she was hit in the back with a prickling sensation. Everything was stopped and the medic came to check on her. The scrape she got on her knee when she rolled out of the way of the weapons was healed and she joined her cheering classmates with a bashful smile.

Minami shook herself out of her shock and smiled “very well done everyone! This is only the first time you all used this training method and we will do this exercise once a week from now on. It’s a great chance to practice and improve. This won’t be graded until the graduation exam when you’re older. Now everyone lets spend the remaining class time asking questions. Lets go back to the classroom”

The group of girls hurried back to the school, which was only on the opposite side of the training grounds. In fact the roof of the building was visible from where they were. As Minami ushered her students into the room the medic left to attend to other classes that were going on.

“ok … quiet down everyone. Now are there any questions on what we have gone through in the first two months?” the instructor asked as the girls took their seats and calmed down. A gray haired girl with pink eyes raised her hand “yes Haru?”

“mama said it takes a man and a woman to make babies, but why are there no men in the village and where do baby boys go?” Haru asked shyly.

Minami smiled as several other girls perked up and also listened curiously “it’s true both men and women are needed to make babies. Most of the pregnancies are regulated meaning we control the gender through jutsus like the ‘X-Only jutsus’ used in the Breeding clinics. In those cases we make sure a girl is born. We even have a system in place for civilian woman who want babies, but sometimes there’s no way to plan for those things … most are heartbreaking, but we won’t discuss that in detail for a few years. In those cases there are sometimes boys born”

The instructor paused to let the little girls absorb what she said before she continued “what happens is that the babies are taken care of either by their mother or by an appointed guardian depending on happens. The instances of boys being born are rare because we train you to avoid those chances and we have a network in place to assure the safety of the ninjas in the field and the very brave merchants. Usually if someone is captured we know and we send help … whether help comes in time is the point. Since it’s rare you don’t see boys here, but we don’t just get rid of them. We aren’t heartless. Most of those boys grow up to be merchants or move to the neighboring villages to act as eyes and ears for us. You will meet many men over the years and some will be from here, but other than those who were born here we don’t allow men in the village. You know just living a certain period in the village will give you some immunity to the forests effects. There is a way to tell who is one of our merchants or former locals, but that’s for another day. Any other questions?”

An orange haired girl raised her hand and Minami pointed at her “what about marriage?”

Minami chuckled “an excellent point Anna … love can not be controlled. Marriage is allowed for love only here, but that doesn’t mean the person is allowed in the village. If you meet a man or woman outside the village and fall in love that’s great, but you would need to live with them outside the village for the village’s safety … and it’s for their safety too … after all it takes a lot of training to survive the effects of the forest’s chakra warping properties. Too much direct exposure without that training will kill someone, even former residents” the instructor smiled at Naruto “you know all too well right Naruko?”

“yes sensei … mommy said it isn’t usually bad on people who aren’t trained like kids, but my head still really hurt” Naruko whimpered as she remembered the pain. She squeaked as Sana hugged her comfortingly and smiled.

“it was worse for you because you have a lot of chakra and once your coils are trained it won’t happen. Certain seasons are even more deadly for trespassers. Winter will create deadly surges that kill instantly. Even men who have no chakra or disabled coils are knocked out if they go through the forest, which is why it’s safer for both the village and the husband or your partner to have them stay away. Of course you aren’t cut off or anything. You can stroll back in the village at any point just without the partner” said Minami.

A few more basic questions were answered and soon class was dismissed by the bell. Today was different than most days. Usually the children would be picked up right away by their mothers, but today was a chance for the mothers to meet the teachers and learn what has been going on. As the adults talked the girls would eat some tasty snacks that were set up by the older students who are going through survival and cooking classes … all dishes are checked before giving them to kids of course.

Jade smiled as she came over and took a seat next to Minami’s desk “hey, how are things Minami?”

“very good, but I think we should discuss Naruko’s activities” the instructor said seriously as if something was wrong, but chuckled as Jade looked concerned “calm down Jade, Naruko is doing wonderfully. In fact we did the Motion test today and … well, I knew she had good aim, but this was impressive”

“how so?” Jade asked eagerly as she felt her pride in her daughter grow. She has been waiting for this day for a few weeks. Naruko tells her some things in the last couple months like the class working on accessing chakra. That was something she was ahead on though so Naruko was working on the first chakra exercises until everyone was caught up. Then the class learned the hand signs for jutsus, some history of several villages including their own village, how to hold various weapons and target practice.

Minami shook her head with a fond smile “Naruko got the highest marks for the test. She took out all of the circular targets, four walking dummies and four weapons dummies. There was one dummy she attempted to disable with her threads, but it didn’t work. exactly”

“that doesn’t seem too surprising. I only bought the basic beginners’ hallow dummies not the solid academy rated ones so she couldn’t cut through perhaps, but that’s still very impressive. Was she hurt at all? She seemed alright when I hugged her a moment ago before leaving her with her friend Sana, but I want to know” Jade said.

“only a scraped knee. The Sight Traps start next week so she may need to practice more with her chakra control, but we will be going through that thoroughly during class so she’ll be fine. I think that’s it for now … oh, I almost forgot. Since Naruko has such a large amount of chakra I want to ask your permission to teach her the more advanced versions of the basic four jutsus” said Minami as she pulled a form out of the desk drawer.

“of course!” Jade exclaimed as she took the pen that was handed to her.

A Sight Trap is a set of illusions, including genjutsus, that are use in the classroom and on the students. The point is to get the children used to noticing their surroundings and removing genjutsus. The best part is that the first, but dramatic genjutsu is cast on the class before they discuss how to remove them so they can understand what a genjutsu can do and the illusions get more subtle from there. Also it’s not allowed to tell others when the genjutsu is up because everyone must learn to detect them on their own.

That is something not done in Konoha’s academy. Another difference is that Konoha only teaches three jutsus in the entire academic period, but Cave teaches four jutsus in the first two years and several different charka control exercises. The extra was a justsu called Flare that makes a powerful flash of light to distract enemies. As far as chakra control goes Konoha only uses leaf balancing, tree walking and water walking, but Cave also has kunai floating, shuriken spinning, water surfing, Warp stones and chakra sparks. It makes sense that Cave has more emphasis on chakra control since they need it just to get out of their village safely …

“will you be training Naruko in your Cave Dweller jutsus?” Minami asked as Jade signed the permission form.

Jade nodded as she handed the form over “yes, but not until she starts elemental training, which she’ll need to master it” she answered knowing that the academy will teach the elements in five years.

“that’s good to know. She will be a strong ninja in the future. I’m honored to have a part in teaching her” Minami smiled.

“thank you” Jade felt her pride swell again as she left the classroom letting the next mother in. Naruko is already starting out on the right foot and will only make great strides. The green eyed ninja watched her daughter with Sana and pulling the shy Haru into the game …

It seemed Naruko was making more friends to help her through what this world has in store for them … doesn’t mean Jade won’t worry about her, she always will…


	8. Accessorize

**(** I’m thinking)

“I’m speaking”

**Pairing: Hentai F/M - Naruko x Kimimaro**

**Last Time:**

It seemed Naruko was making more friends to help her through what this world has in store for them … doesn’t mean Jade won’t worry about her, she always will…

XXXXXXXXXX

“what would you like to make for the party Naruko? We should do four recipes and do as much as we can using both ovens. The others are on the dessert committee ar baking too so there’s no need to rush” Jade told the blonde as the little girl sat at the table filled with cookbooks ready to help.

In two days a festival is being held. It’s a celebration for all the brave ninjas who have died in that year. A hot air balloon is flown up into the air for each soul that passed on and everyone parties until midnight. Jade and Naruko are part of the dessert committee this year. Though to be honest Jade was going to back out because she thought Naruko would prefer watching her first Festival of Passing, but her daughter loved the idea as much as baking. As a result they ended up here ready to begin baking.

“ummm … I know! Sugar cookies would be perfect and … the triple chocolate cake you made for me before … that apple cake and …” Naruko pouted as she couldn’t find another recipe she liked in the first recipe book and moved it to the side to look through the next book “Russian tea cakes!”

Jade clapped her hands excitedly “excellent choices! Let me see here …” she hummed as she opened the frig to take stock of what they had “we have chocolate chips, but not chocolate pudding or apples” she glanced in the pantry to see the flour and sugar next to the walnuts and cinnamon that goes in the tea cakes “we have a good amount of everything for starting sugar cookies or the tea cakes so which one would you like to start with?” Jade asked as she made a hand sign to create four shadow clones. One clone was to watch the oven, one clone was to help prepare and the last two were to keep track of the supplies and go buy more when they need it. The designated shopping clones went to get the things they didn’t have right away so they could start the apple and chocolate cakes later.

“sugar cookies!” Naruko exclaimed happily.

“alright! Go pick some cookie cutters” said Jade who gave Naruko the small basket of cookie cutters as her clones preheated the stacked ovens and got out the bowls and cookie sheets.

A bat cookie cutter was chosen. It was the unofficial symbol of the Village Hidden n the Cave after all. Unofficial is used to describe it because unlike most ninja villages Cave doesn’t have headbands and none of them wear any kind identifier. You would never be able to look at them and think they were from a certain village or even ninjas unless you fought them. They were truly hidden in a way especially from other ninja villages. Naruko also remembered that bats symbolize death and rebirth from class so she chose her other cookie cutters with that in mind.

A dragonfly cookie cutter to symbolize the afterlife and a butterfly shaped cookie cutter to represent change and life … that and these ones would be fun to decorate!

The clones melted some chocolate, got the sprinkles and pearl dust ready for decorating as Naruko and her mother made the dough. It was a double batch so it would make lots of cookies, but for a village they would need two more double batches. Thankfully with this assembly line they would crank out a lot very quickly. There was a little bump in the process when Naruko had trouble using the dragonfly …

The little blonde pouted as the antenna of the dragonfly cookie popped off when she tried to remove the dough from the cutter “this dragonfly is not working” she said.

Jade took the misshapen piece of dough and worked it back into the rest of the dough before rolling it back out “it’s a tricky shape. I’ll show you a trick” Jade channeled her chakra into the cookie cutter and pushed it in the dough. The chakra made the dough slide out so it kept the perfect dragonfly shape.

“Wow … that’s cool!” Naruko exclaimed in awe at he simple trick making Jade chuckle.

“it takes a lot of chakra control so why don’t I do the dragonflies for this batch and you do the bats and butterflies in the next batches, ok?” Jade asked as her clone set a cookie tray next to her.

“ok Mommy!” Naruko smiled and watched as four trays were filled with dragonflies and popped into the oven along with the last scraps of dough, which will be for a taste test once the baking was done. The shopping clones returned just as the cookies were pulled out of the oven and set to the side to cool. With the first batch of cookies made it was time for the next batch. As the clones began peeling and chopping the apples for the cake Jade mixed together the next ball of sugar cookie dough.

Little bat cookies filled the trays and then butterflies. Once all the sugar cookies were cooling they took a break for everything to be washed and so they could have some lunch. With everything cleaned Jade let Naruko decorate the cookies as she and her clones cranked out some apple cakes. That was fine with the little blonde because she loved decorating …

Colorful pearl dust was used to decorate the dragonflies. Sprinkles and pearl dust were on some of the butterflies while others were either left lain or drizzled with chocolate. The bats were pressed into the chocolate and given small round red or green or blue sprinkles for eyes. Only one more shopping trip and another dish washing had to be made before the last of the things needed to be done. The last things being the tea cakes and the chocolate cakes.

“Mommy I finished the cookies!” Naruko exclaimed excitedly.

Jade smiled as she looked at her daughter’s creations “you did beautifully Naruko! When the chocolate sets we’ll seal them away for the festivities” she kissed he top of Naruko’s head and chuckled as some sprinkles fell out of the blonde hair “we’re going to need a bath after this” she said as she brushed a few sprinkles and dust off the little girl’s clothes.

The last cakes were made quickly, but with each tea cake that was rolled out Naruko became more and more coated in powdered sugar or a cinnamon and sugar mix resulting in a very sweet little girl …

All the baked goods were allowed a chance to cool and sealed away in a scroll. the next morning Naruko and Jade made some homemade whipped cream and played around with some chocolate molds to make a lot of little candies before sealing those up to. They brought everything to the place where the festival …

XXXXXXXXXX

Kakashi looked at the hokage hopefully “have you found any trace of her?”

“it has been months since she was taken … I’m sorry, but we haven’t. jiraiya went back into the field yesterday now that his injuries are healed so we might hear something” Sarutobi said sorrowfully as if he was truly sorry. Yes, he wanted the girl back, but he wanted to cover all his bases first so no one learns of his involvement.

“they aren’t looking hard enough!” Kakashi snapped, his fists clenched for a second before he forced himself to calm down “please hokage-sama, let me leave an search for Naruko”

“you have only been released from the hospital after a six month stay … your injuries were severe and the council expects you to be the sensei for Sasuke when he reaches 16 and is placed on a genin team … wait a few weeks so you are fully healed then you can leave, but I expect you to be back for Sasuke’s training” Sarutobi said trying to keep his ninja in the village a little longer.

The silver haired ninja sagged in defeat, but nodded “yes hokage-sama” he left with a slight limp. It has too long to not find anything. This worried him too much to take the hokage’s order seriously so he slipped into the destroyed section of the village to look for any clues.

The area that was destroyed by the bombs was mostly nice apartments and and few houses. Very few people were hurt since it was the weekend and most people were out, but the few who were home were badly hurt or killed. He never knew Naruko was anywhere near him, but he wasn’t surprised. She was Minato’s daughter so she must’ve been cared for and protected secretly in a nice place.

With that in mind he slipped into the construction zone and started looking for where Naruko may have lived …

However, after a few hours he couldn’t find even a trace. Something about this wasn’t making any sense. Why was the construction of the new buildings so far along? It shouldn’t be this far ahead if the investigation delayed everything and they had to investigate everything before rebuilding even if Naruko wasn’t involved.

“ _that demon bitch has been gone a long time … I bet she’s dead_ ” one worker chuckled as if he found it funny. Kakashi stopped dead in his tracks under the suspension that the two men were standing on as they nailed boards to create a wall for the third story of a building.

Kakashi jumped up to the suspension platform to join the two workers “hello” he said cheerily with an eye smile before lifting his headband revealing his sharingan sending both men into a trance “who is the demon bitch?”

“Naruko Uzumaki” the workers both answered.

“where does she live?” Kakashi growled as his anger flared.

“the other side of town in the part of town that was abandoned after the demon’s attack” they said in a daze.

The ninja froze. That made no sense … Naruko was supposed nearby … otherwise why would the hokage tell him that the blasts were used to cover up the kidnapper’s trail? “how long has she been gone and why are you rebuilding so quickly?”

“the demon has been gone 8 months … we are rebuilding because the hokage insisted on it. The survivors needed homes any way” the workers answered.

That was all he needed to know. Kakashi released the men from the trance and left them confused and without any memory of what happened …

A few minutes passed and Kakashi found himself in the desolate part of town … where he found a shack someone was using as a shelter months ago … someone small who curled up in the small cot and ate sfcraps.

Did his sensei’s little girl live here? In a crumbling shack that had trash surrounding it and death threats painted on the walls? Why did the hokage lie to him?

XXXXXXXXXX

“wow everything looks great Jade” Mary, Sana’s mother, said happily as she looked at all the desserts at the dessert tables “which did you and Naruko do?” as she checked the tent over the dessert tables.

Jade pointed to the desserts she and her daughter did “apple cakes, chocolate cakes, tea cakes and sugar cookies. We also made the whipped cream and those chocolate candies”

Naruko popped up from under the tale with a smile “I helped decorate the cookies!”

“you did!” Mary exclaimed “they look amazing!” Naruko blushed at the praise and returned to the spot under the table where she and Sana were playing a game of checkers that used dark and white chocolate candies instead of real game pieces.

”you ladies out did yourselves” Yumi smiled as she and Yobaba joined the festival preparations.

“thank elders” all the women bowed

Yobaba smirked as she looked at the table the girls were under “you trouble makers better not eat all those checker pieces before dinner”

Yumi rolled her eyes “it’s the Passing Festival. Eating and indulging is allowed. Let the girls have some fun Yobaba”

Mary and Jade blinked and looked under the table as the elders walked away and they found the little thieves. The mothers knew the girls were playing checkers, but didn’t know about the swap in game pieces for sweeter replacements “you can eat your winnings after dinner, but not too much or you will get sick” Jade smiled in amusement as Mary giggled.

Both girls at least looked a bit ashamed at getting caught red handed “yes mommy” they both said.

An hour later the festivities started “Naruko, Sana, come on, Queen Reine is about to say her speech and launch the hot air balloons”

“coming!” the little girls collected their sweet winnings and left with their mothers. The speech was beautiful. It named those who were killed during the past year and wished that they found peace in the afterlife. With that the large colorful hot air balloons were launched into the sky. Lanterns or balloons would be another way to represent the soul passing, but Cave wanted a way to control the message so that someone outside the village to find a bunch of paper lanterns and think ‘where did all of those come from?’. Hot air balloons can at least be guided back to the ground …

The feast started soon after the balloons landed, but Naruko wanted to get back to the dessert table to get the checker board so she could play with Sana. Right after dinner she might not be able to get it since the dessert table will get crowded. When she got there she noticed a group of three blue spiders, one big one with a body the size of a quarter and two much smaller ones though they were all the same type of spider, perched on a plain butterfly cookie “silly spiders you’ll get squished if someone saw you. I’ll move you to a safe place” she slowly picked up the cookie with its passengers and outside of the tent to put the cookie under a bush.

The little girl made sure the spiders were hidden before going to get her checker board and checker pieces …

XXXXXXXXXX

“I just realized that I never thanked you Queen Reine, for finding more information on Naruko’s father. It made her happy to know about him. Of course I’m not letting her train in those techniques that Minato Namikaze was known to use until she’s older” Jade said gratefully with a bow.

The queen chuckled “it was no problem. You already deduced that the forth hokage was the one who sealed the demon fox in her and we knew she was a real Uzumaki so it was a simple means of looking back through some reports. Konoha did hide the fact that they had an Uzumaki quite well, but there was news of forth hokage being married. With the fact that the woman disappeared about nine months before the nine tail’s release combined with what we learned about the seal’s weakness during pregnancy from some of Naruko’s scrolls it was an easy conclusion to come to … though it did take awhile to find those reports on his jutsus … you know, if he uses seals like his wife Naruko may have another inheritance waiting for her”

Jade pondered that idea for a second “now that makes sense … I’ll tell her that, but I don’t like the idea of her going into that place without me” Jade muttered as the queen smiled in amusement. It was time for dinner so Jade went to look for her daughter. The day was warm and perfect for the outdoor festivities. She enjoyed the pleasant breeze as she went towards the tent that protected the desserts “Naruko … did you get your board and the real game pieces? … Naru-“ Jade paled as she turned the corner and saw three blue spiders on her daughter’s pant leg. The blue round bodies and long black legs pointed to a very deadly species “Naruko don’t move” she said with a deadly serious tone.

“Mommy?” Naruko felt a sliver of fear at her mother’s tone and that fear intensified as she felt something jump onto her neck. Jade didn’t have any weapons with her so she took a knife from the dessert table …

“we don’t mean her any harm” Jade froze with the blade of her knife less than a inch away from killing the spider on the blonde’s neck. The small voice came from the biggest of the spiders.

Jade’s eyes narrowed and she backed off “I see … your chakra is strong unlike other spiders … you’re summons” she said with relief, which made Naruko relax too.

“actually if she wants to sign our scroll we would be her familiars. Would you little one? Please, we really like your chakra and you’re nice” the biggest spider said as it reached up with its leg to tickle the girl’s neck.

Naruko giggled “ok” a scroll appeared in a puff of smoke. Naruko signed in blood and the scroll disappeared. The two smaller spiders cheered and for some reason took a spot on the girl’s earlobe to hang from. The biggest spider hopped onto her head and pulled back the messy bangs to pin them back.

Once the blue spiders tucked their legs in they looked no different than a pair of blue earrings and a matching hairclip. Well … this will be fun to explain to her friends …


	9. Healthy Heart

**(** I’m thinking)

“I’m speaking”

**Pairing: Hentai F/M - Naruko x Kimimaro**

**Last Time:**

Once the blue spiders tucked their legs in they looked no different than a pair of blue earrings and a matching hairclip. Well … this will be fun to explain to her friends …

XXXXXXXXXX

Jiraiya looked absolutely stunned and weakly stumbled back against a tree “are you sure about this?”

“yes” Kakashi said seriously and handed over several photos that he unsealed from a scroll on his belt “I spent most of the last three months investigating … look” he handed over the photos and Jiraiya took them with a shaky hand “that run down shack in the photos is where she lived for a year. The orphanage kicked her out at about four years old … she was diving in dumpsters for food Jiraiya! Everything the hokage was telling us was wrong! How do we know she didn’t run to save her life? I listened to the civilians and the things they bragged about … it’s sick”

“this … sensei wouldn’t allow this …” the toad sage said sounding less than sure and more like he was trying to convince himself as he flipped through the photos of the place Naruko was forced to live in.

“do you honestly think something of this scale just escaped the hokage’s attention for a full year? He told me many times that she was being cared for. That someone was watching her. Did she ever get my presents for her birthday? … you can’t sit there and tell me you believe the old fool?” Kakashi yelled more than a little pissed off at this.

The toad sage gritted his teeth, but finally gave a defeated sigh “no”

Kakashi nodded “good. I have my dog summons hunting for her. When Naruko is safe I’m confronting that bastard-”

“wait a minute … that may not be a wise move” Jiraiya said pondering a problem that just occurred to him.

“and why not? Get Tsunade involved and he won’t stand a chance” Kakashi remarked in a bloodthirsty tone that promised pain.

“it’s his desperation that bothers me” Jiraiya commented and paused for a second to think “Sarutobi has been sending me letters hinting that Naruko may be brainwashed depending on who took her and to find her fast so she can be treated …” he trailed off only vaguely aware of the fact that he switched from calling the hokage ‘sensei’ to a much less caring ‘Sarutobi’ …

The silver haired ninja nodded “he told me as much before allowing me to leave, which means he wants us to give her to him and keep her from talking … he also hinted that I would be needed to train a team, but that won’t happen. Once I find Naruko I’m retiring and taking her away” Kakashi said firmly.

“maybe you should train a team” Jiraiya mused and held up a hand to silently tell Kakashi to listen to what he has to say first before flying off into a rant, which the normally calm and collected ninja seems to be doing a lot of lately. Of course being betrayed like this is as a good reason to be a little out of sorts “you just said that the civilians were hurting Naruko, right?”

“yes and I suspect several ninjas were behind it too since she was supposed to have bodyguards” Kakashi answered feeling even more bitter about the village he once loved.

“that’s what I thought, but this means the council is involved and if we give them even one reason they will banish us and keep Naruko for themselves. You know very well that Danzo would jump at that opportunity and try to legally take Naruko, which he couldn’t do with us making a point of returning to the village on a regular basis. Hell, the old warhawk was probably fooled by the hokage’s stories too like we were … at least I assume that Sarutobi would make it difficult for Danzo. Naruko is still the nine tailed fox’s vessel and, despite the horrid treatment, she wouldn’t just be allowed to fall into the wrong hands … wait …” Jiraiya paused to think about something.

A slightly calmer Kakashi frowned “what is it?”

“it’s the treatment … oh now I understand. Sarutobi was trying to impose what the other villages do to make their demon vessels more loyal to the village. Brainwashing through organized pain to be exact” the toad sage explained.

Kakashi blinked “oh how stupid of me … now it makes perfect sense and it’s all ok. Lets just hand Naruko over to them and let them continue. The pain was soooo well organized it’s hard to believe they lost her … DON’T TRY TO RATIONALIZE THIS SHIT!” he suddenly yelled obviously beyond furious.

(shit he can be scarier than Tsunade) Jiraiya thought fearfully “calm down Kakashi. You know damn well I’d never sacrifice my goddaughter like that. I’m only making a point that we are up against the Daimyo as well since the other Daimyos approve the treatments in their own villages. Sarutobi could explain that we tried to sabotage it … granted he did piss off the Daimyo recently and he might just be scared that Tsunade might come after him and beat him up, but we need to consider everything that might happen. If he has the council or the Daimyo on his side this will be tricky. I know how Sarutobi thinks. He was clearly trying to cover his ass by manipulating us by going so far as to kill villagers and blow us up. I have no doubt that he has a few backup plans in case we find out the truth so we need the same safety net because someone will come for us if we have Naruko”

“you’re right” Kakashi sighed in defeat “I haven’t been thinking straight lately. What do you think we should do?”

A devious smirk came to the toad sage’s lips “we’ll spend every second we can hunting down and when we find her, whether it’s before or after the hokage asks you back to the village to train, you will go back and take the Uchiha’s geinin team. The massacre was only months ago so you are the only other Sharingan user in Konoha that can train Sasuke. When you get Sasuke we get the last Uchiha as a bargaining chip”

Kakashi eye smiled “I can handle that”

“excellent! Now as far as our certain over powered medic ninja goes I’ll explain what I can and try to keep her from going berserk- … on second though maybe I should start by telling Shizune. Yeah that might save us some pain in the long run. Shizune will at least hear me out first” Jiraiya chuckled sheepishly, he should’ve never even considered telling Tsunade first. That woman’s temper will get them all labeled criminals and they’d be on the run the rest of their lives …

The silver haired ninja sighed as they both jumped into the trees “does your network have any leads?”

“to Naruko, no … to Tsunade, yes, but we’ll have to stop at a place to get a more recent update” Jiraiya said urgently and they picked up the pace. After nearly two hours of running they stopped at a stand for some food “hey Jack, two specials with plenty of napkins please”

“you got it!” the bearded man behind the counter grinned and began cooking up the food as the two ninjas sat down.

“we need to find Naruko. What if she’s hurt or sick? … or …” Kakashi swallowed, but a tightness in his throat made it very difficult to do so. He didn’t want to even consider that his sensei’s baby girl was dead. There was no doubt in his mid that she found a way to runaway, but realistically how could a five year old, who would’ve just turned six, be able to survive on her own? Was someone helping her? Kakashi’s mind was spinning, but in the end he just prayed that she was safe and happy.

Jiraiya frowned. The same thoughts were going through his mind too “she’s alive … she is a demon vessel so we would know if the nine tails was released” he whispered.

“order up” Jack set the food in front of the ninjas and for a brief moment a gold bat necklace was reveled before it disappeared behind the man’s collar again.

Kakashi noticed that the extra napkins had a small code etched along the edges and breathed a sigh of relief … Jack was part of Jiraiya’s spy network “this food is delicious”

“thank you!” Jack continued to set up his stock for an expected wave of costumers and slipped in the back for a moment. He picked up a jar and pulled out a large beetle. One tweak of the antenna the thorax popped open revealing a hallow space and that the realistic bug was a fake. A message was quickly jotted down and placed in the beetle’s thorax. As he closed the compartment he signaled out the window and a bird flew down to the sill “fly to Queen Reine” he ordered quietly and he bird took off with the ‘beetle’ in its talons. Jack grabbed some vegetables and proceeded playing cook …

XXXXXXXXXX

The queen of Cave looked up as a bird flew down to her “what’s this? … this is from Jack” she said as she recognized the distinct marks on the beetle. She poped open the beetle and read the message inside.

“what does it say?” Yumi asked as she sat down in the garden near the meeting room. They just finished a meeting about expanding their reach to the Land of Snow when this bird arrived.

“Jack’s position in Jiraiya’s network paid off … there are two ninjas looking for Naruko. Both Jiraiya and Kakashi are trying to find. Jack claims they don’t seem to want harm her and he usually has good instincts about that” Reine said as she set the note aside and burned it.

The other advisor stormed out of the room “we have another meeting in an hour so don’t wander off!” Yobaba snapped in her usual grouchy tone.

A sigh escaped Reine’s lips as she rolled her eyes as she heard Yobaba continue complaining “Yumi would you go inform Jade of this development? Ask her what she’d like to do and if Naruko recognizes the names”

Yumi nodded “of course my queen. I was going to see them anyway. Poor little girl caught a cold and has been in bed since yesterday”

Reine pouted “wish her well for me”

The advisor chuckled at the request. It seems the queen has taken a liking to the child just like everyone else in the village. Yumi made her way out of the castle and through the bustling streets. It was easy to find Jade’s home and she wasted no time knocking on the door …

Jade was revealed as the door swung open “hello Elder Yumi! Please come in! would you like some tea?” Jade asked as she stepped aside to let the small woman in purple into the house.

“thank you, I would love some. As for why I stopped by it seems that there are people after Naruko. The Toad Sage, Jiraiya and Sharingan Kakashi. They both stopped at Jack’s stand a were heard talking about her. The queen said the message sent made it sound like these two men were truly concerned for her” Yumi explained.

The mother scoffed at that as she started pouring some tea “how convenient that they start missing her when she’s been gone for over a year … concerned? … as much as I trust Jack’s opinion I highly doubt someone who was truly concerned would wait so damn long”

Yumi frowned as she was handed a cup of tea “yes, it doesn’t make much sense to me either. The queen wanted to know what your thoughts on this are and if Naruko ever mentioned those names especially in a negative light. Speaking of, how is she? Is she feeling any better?”

“her fever dropped over the night and she’s feeling better, but she is still very tired and stuffed up. I have her spiders keeping an eye on her temperature … she’s my child and I don’t want anything to happen to her” Jade remarked as she stared into her steaming tea.

The purple clad advisor nodded in understanding and sipped her tea “when you first found Naruko she was unguarded. There was no one there to even pretend to save her from those bastards. I always thought something was off about that perhaps … it’s a long shot, but perhaps these men only just discovered that something was off”

Jade sighed “I understand that, but we know very little about it. Naruko never mentioned any names, negatively or otherwise. Her main nightmares were about an anbu with a dog mask or the civilians or the hokage”

“it will be investigated since these men are actively searching for one of our own, but depending on what is found would you want to initiate contact with them. We won’t do so unless you give the go ahead” Yumi said seriously.

“personally I think that should be Naruko’s decision … if we find out what these ninjas’ goal is then she will decide” Jade answered despite the little voice in her head telling her to cut these men’s balls off for being incompetent. It was taking everything she had to think with her ninja mind and not the pissed off mother bear part of her mind … and that tiny part that feared potentially losing Naruko to these men …

Yumi chuckled and gave Jade a knowing smile “Naruko is your baby. You will always be her mother and I doubt she will ever think otherwise” the elder said before bidding Jade farewell.

Once the elder left Jade made a bowl of chicken soup and took it up to Naruko …


	10. Prey in Sight

**(** I’m thinking)

“I’m speaking”

**Pairing: Hentai F/M - Naruko x Kimimaro**

**Last Time:**

Once the elder left Jade made a bowl of chicken soup and took it up to Naruko …

XXXXXXXXXX

Naruko heard the bell signaling the end of class ring and began packing up her things in storage seals on her hands when she heard her sensei say “all the students who got a cocoon sticker on your report care please stay a moment after class”

“bye Sana, I’ll see you later” Naruko said and showed her friend her report card, which had a little cocoon sticker just under her name.

Sana pouted “ok, bye!” she called as she picked up her back pack and left waving to the blonde.

Minami smiled as a group of six little girls came up to her desk “now I’m sure you’re wondering why I marked your report cards. Well the first year is mainly for the basics, but the first part of the second year is for testing your strengths and weaknesses. I found each of you have an area where you have a bit more trouble compared to your peers. For some of you that may be strength and for others it may be chakra related. Since your classes are going to get harder we are going to tailor your homeroom time so you can work on these weakness or I will help find something to help you get around them. I have some folders for you and I want you to look through them with your mommies, ok?”

“yes sensei!” the little girls all said. One by one they were called by name and given a folder from the pile on Minami’s desk before scurrying out the door to wait for their mothers …

She tried to resist, but Naruko couldn’t help but open her folder as she waited. It really wasn’t surprising to find that her big weakness was chakra especially releasing genjutsus. Her mommy already explained why, but her thoughts were interrupted when a girl ran out and tripped sending her folder and everything in it sprawling across the ground.

“are you ok Haru?” Naruko asked as she sealed her folder away in her seals and went over to help the gray haired girl with pink eyes collect the papers.

Haru smiled shyly and took the papers Naruko picked up for her “I’m fine, thank you Naruko” she said gratefully as she tucked all the papers neatly in the folder.

“I was happy to help … I noticed you have some trouble with chakra too, would you like to work on that together? I have a lot of trouble with that” Naruko offered sweetly.

“I-I would like that” Haru blushed, but then noticed her mother, Rosie, coming towards the school “that’s my mother … see you tomorrow” the shy girl said softly and almost hesitantly …

“yep, see you tomorrow!” Naruko grinned waving as Haru walked towards her mother seemingly happier than a moment ago. The little blonde suddenly heard the rumble of thunder and went in the school to wait …

XXXXXXXXXX

Jade smiled at the heavily pregnant woman on the exam table as she sat down to review some results “it looks like everything is going well … I expect you to have a very healthy baby girl”

“that’s good to hear. Should I still stay here over the next week?” the woman asked as she sat up … with a bit of help from her medic.

“it would be wise since you are very close to your due date. Do you need help getting some things together?” Jade asked as she helped her stand.

“no, I brought a good amount of clothes in that scroll just in case” the patient said as she pointed to the scroll tucked in the pocket of the jacket.

After helping her last patient of the day get to her assigned room and went to change out of her clinic uniform so she could go get Naruko. It took very little time to get into some casual clothes and sign out, but by the time she said goodbye and stepped outside she saw the storm clouds over head that weren’t there earlier. She quickly unsealed her umbrella from her scroll and left to pick up her daughter. The rumble of thunder was heard as she turned the corner and it started to drizzle so it was no surprise to find that Naruko was not waiting outside of the school. Jade went inside to find her, but found Minami holding a panic stricken little blonde.

“Naruko! Naruko sweety are you alright? I’m here. Mommy is here, it’s ok” Jade said softly as she hugged the little girl, but Naruko didn’t say a word as she latched onto her mother’s collar “what happened?”

Minami frowned “I was walking down the hall to see if anyone was still waiting to be picked up. The lights flickered slightly as I went towards Naruko and … she screamed … it was like she saw someone else not me”

The little blonde shivered in her mother’s arms “Dog … he came to take me”

Jade gently rubbed the little girl’s back trying to comfort her “I think I know what happened … I’ll get her home to calm down, thank you for watching her” she said and carried Naruko away under the safety of the umbrella.

XXXXXXXXXX

Yobaba’s eyes narrowed as she and her fellow advisor scanned the reports Reine showed them “Dog … Kakashi Hatake is the anbu with the dog mask” she stated in a dangerously calm tone.

“yes, but as you see something is off” Reine said trying to remain logical about all this, but it was hard to do so. Truthfully her first instinct was to hunt down and kill the leaf ninja “I took a closer look at his mission data”

Yumi looked at the dates “the anbu Dog was spotted on several different missions since the nine tail’s attack. Many of these missions were so close together that he could not have had time to return home … oh my, he wasn’t in the village for the entire year before Jade found Naruko”

“that is the main issue. The small talks with Jade revealed little, but Naruko does seem to remember the worst things happening around her birthday including the last time she saw Dog … Kakashi wasn’t in the village from the eight months before Naruko was saved to two months after and was hospitalized for six months after an explosion. It’s strange, but perhaps the hokage organized the treatment all the way to deceiving his own ninjas” Reine suggested and waited for her advisors to state their opinions.

“I still recall Jade’s report vividly … we know that the hokage is capable of pulling many strings, but deceiving the ninjas of your own village is going too far” Yumi said.

The skeptical advisor clad in pink scoffed “an anbu should’ve found something wrong from the gossip alone. We may have strong and wise civilians, but in all other villages they wag their tongues like animals. I believe he knew”

“I don’t agree … you’re supposed to be able to trust your leader and Kakashi simply placed his trust in a greedy man. Sarutobi may have used the attack as an excuse to have Kakashi taking so many missions that he couldn’t even return long enough to do much more than rest let alone check on a child he believed was in safe hands” Yuni said offering a more optimistic view of the data presented to them.

Yobaba shook her head “we only managed to gleam what we could from the people who hired Konoha and the villages involved. None of these dates are exact or even confirmed, which means there are several times where Hatake could’ve come back and forth. Plus we can’t take the word of a child as fact. Naruko may have been under the impression it was her birthday when she saw him, which we know she did see Dog or at least it was someone with the dog mask, but when suffering from such extreme abuse his presence is about the only thing we can confirm”

“children are very good at recognizing patterns especially in abusive circumstances” Yumi pointed out.

“with a possible head injury? I think not. Besides we know the attacks happened year around. Only the worst happened around her birthday if that is she has that right and lets not forget Jiraiya. The man is a spy and you’re telling me that he couldn’t find any whispers that hinted to what was going on. That’s madness! Our future spies are better connected than that!” Yobaba snapped back clearly saying that the young girls in school are more skilled than Jiraiya.

The advisor clad in purple huffed “Jiraiya is trained to look for information outside of the village he lives in so he can stop any incoming threats. He spends most of his time jumping from brothel to brothel and many other places to set up an spy network, but there is plenty of proof that he really only does that. Jiraiya rarely returns to Konoha so how can he find hints of anything going on in Konoha?”

The queen sighed and cut in before an argument started “this afternoon Minami came to me and reported that Naruko mistook her for Dog during a series of surges that made the lights flicker as the storm passed. I checked what Kakashi’s basic measurements are and Minami actually fit them. Naruko is truly terrified of a shadow with a dog mask. On one hand Naruko could have been mistaking a man dressed as Dog for the real deal, but why? What would be the benefit to making a child fear this particular person? We know Kakashi was trained by Naruko’s father so why would he hurt her? Also why keep quiet about her heritage after she was taken? I understand that the fourth hokage had enemies and many people would want an Uzumaki, but what good does it do to keep it quiet when she is gone? There are too many questions, but from what we know it doesn’t look like Kakashi or Jiraiya were directly involved. Of course this issue involves one of our own so I refuse to take this lightly … I wish to try something”

The two elderly advisors glanced at each other before looking at the queen of Cave “and what is that?”

“if these men were in on the plan to hurt Naruko then where’s is the trouble in telling them what we know?” Reine smirked as a plan formed …

XXXXXXXXXX

“it has been six months … we can’t keep stalling Jiraiya” Kakashi said with a hint of frustration. All his life he trained. He was promoted earlier than anyone, but all that skill is worthless if he can’t find the most important person in his life.

Jiraiya groaned in a slightly whiny way “but I don’t want to tell her … I want to keep my balls” he whimpered.

At first they were going to find Tsunade and Shizune, but that plan quickly changed the second they found them. It didn’t take long to track the medics down. Both Kakashi and Jiraiya went to the village where the most rumors came from and went in the first bar. The medics were right there … in the middle of castrating a man who they caught trying to rape a woman in the neighboring alley. The horrifying sight made Kakashi and Jiraiya run for the hills before the medics ever noticed them. In tnis state of mind they could’ve lost their balls next the shinobi agreed to spend time hunting down Naruko before talking to either of he medics … at least that would give Tsunade and Shizune time to calm down.

Kakashi sighed as he looked down at the river from the tree branch he was on “we need their help … besides waiting any longer will only make things worse”

“yeah … you’re right … lets get this over with-ow … what the hell?” Jiraiya grumbled as he felt his head where something small but hard hit him. after a second he pulled out a little capsule that got tangled in his hair “a message capsule?” Jiraiya looked at it curiously. It made no sense for it to just fall out of the sky with no except themselves around here. Maybe it popped off the leg of a messenger bird, which means it could hold nothing or something important so the toad sage opened it “there’s a message” he said as he slid out the tightly rolled tube of paper and carefully unrolled it. His eyes widened as he read the contents “Kakashi … this is for us”

“what?!” Kakashi jumped down and revealed his Sharingan. The spinning red eye scanned the for any people or bird with a metal band on the leg, but no tube. In the area around them there was nothing except a bird nibbling at a large beetle “it must’ve flown off. What does the message say?” he asked as he went over to the toad sage and looked at the note, which said …

‘ _To Kakashi and Jiraiya – it has come to our attention that you are searching for a sweet little girl named Naruko and I want to know why. When Naruko was found she was starved to the point of being a skeleton and was about to be raped in front of a bloodthirsty mob of your Konoha civilians-_ ’

“r-raped … she was a child” Kakashi felt sick and had to fight the urge to go and murder several people in Konoha “bastards”

Jiraiya nodded “yes, but lets finish the message first”

‘ _there were no ninjas to help her so we did. We gave her a home, clothes, food and comfort when no one in Konoha did, not even you. On top of this Naruko is terrified of a ninja with a Dog mask who dragged her to many of the attacks-’_

The toad sage pinned Kakashi with a glare before grabbing him by the throat “tell me it wasn’t you … TELL ME!”

Kakashi gagged as his throat was squeezed “not me” he gasped. Jiraiya took a second to carefully look for any sign of a lie before finally letting Kakashi go. Even before Kakashi recovered they returned to the message …

‘ _we are good at getting information so we know who the anbu Dog is, but the other information suggests that you, Kakashi, weren’t in Konoha at the possible times where a Dog attacked Naruko. Despite this we would be fools to just let you near Naruko. If you wish to earn our trust then go to Firefly Village and wait for us to contact you_ ’

“this could be a trap” Jiraiya commented as he burned the note so no one else could read it.

“it’s worth the risk” Kakashi said eagerly as he set off with Jiraiya right behind him. The tension from earlier was completely forgotten.

The bird with the bug watched them leave and flicked a switch on the bug’s back that made the eyes close … this bug was a camera!


	11. Trust

**(** I’m thinking)

“I’m speaking”

**Pairing: Hentai F/M - Naruko x Kimimaro**

**Last Time:**

The bird with the bug watched them leave and flicked a switch on the bug’s back that made the eyes close … this bug was a camera!

XXXXXXXXXX

Yobaba made her way to Jade’s home, but didn’t knock on the door. She just watched through the window. The curtains were mostly closed, but there was enough of a gap for hr to get a glimpse of the young blonde as she sat down to watch a movie with her mother. It was a peaceful sight to see especially since the scare the young girl had when she thought she saw the leaf anbu Dog a week ago.

It’s actually for that very reason the elder in pink showed up today. She wanted to see for herself that Naruko was doing better before a meeting was about to take place. This stern untrusting elder has made it her mission to protect this village at all costs and that little girl was being hunted by outsiders. Naruko was a Cave villager and therefore Yobaba refused to take this situation with Jiraiya and Kakashi lightly.

After a few seconds she continued on her way. It took a few minutes for her to make it to the tower where Queen Reine lived, but for a woman of her age it wasn’t too surprising. As she made her way through the halls she came upon Yumi, now sporting a blue kimono, and Reine …

“the tapes seem to show very genuine reactions” Yumi said and ignored the snort from Yobaba who sat across from her.

Reine nodded “it does look very promising. I received a report only ten minutes ago. Both Kakashi and Jiraiya have arrived in Firefly village. Our allies have eyes on them-”

“then I will go meet them” Yobaba said suddenly as she stood up.

“is that a wise idea?” Reine asked.  
Yumi frowned “you don’t have to you know? We can observe them from a distance through the eyes of our spies in the village”

“this is too delicate to rely on second hand information. I will approach them directly and see for myself if they’re trustworthy. If they can convince me then Naruko will be fine. Do you have Naruko’s medical file?” Yobaba asked.

“yes and there’s many of the drawings she made when she first came here too” Reine said as she handed a thick file over to the elder in pink before she headed out. It won’t be a very long trek for her because the village lies just a few miles out side the chakra warping forest that surrounds the cave entrance. You could try running across shark infested waters to get to the island that is hiding the village of Cave. However the cliffs surrounding the entire island that houses the village are guarded by ninjas and a near constant fog on the water … and sharks. Lets not forget those sharks. The underground cave system is really the only safe way into Cave.

There’s actually a reason for that though. Firefly village is considered an extension of Cave. It’s a connection to the outside world hat helps connect the village to clients. Also many of the residents are men born in Cave or the families of Cave ninjas who married someone outside the village and can’t bring them into the main village because of the deadly forest. There are even cave systems that connect Firefly to Cave for trading supplies in secret or emergencies.

Yobaba casually went into the cave system and paused for a moment in the dark stone tunnels. The cool air of the cave brought back so many memories. So much time has passed in her life and it’s not over yet. The elder avoided the traps that lead to the shark infested water and soon felt the roots of the trees above. She knew she was close …

XXXXXXXXXX

“we’re here” Kakashi said to no one in particular as he and Jiraiya went into the small village.

The toad sage frowned “the message didn’t say what to do after we got here so they probably intend to find us. Lets find a hotel to spend a few nights” he said as they walked around the bustling village. They found an in in the center of the village and paid for a couple nights for now. If they had to stay longer then they will pay more, but right now they weren’t sure when they will hear from the people who have Naruko. Even though they weren’t sure they were willing to wait as long as needed, which turned out to only be half a day …

After taking a seat at a local curry shop they were approached by an elderly woman wearing a pink kimono “Kakashi Hatake and Jiraiya the toad sage … you’re both less impressive in person” the sharp tongued woman scoffed making the two men twitch violently, but she caught them just as they both had mouths full of spicy curry so neither could fire back a retort or stop her from taking a seat at their table, which she did “I am Yobaba and I came to meet you for Naruko’s sake”

“you know where she is?! Where-” Kakashi was silenced as the old woman raised a hand basically telling him to shut up. The Leaf ninjas weren’t sure what to make of this small old woman, but there was doubt in their minds that she held a position of authority.

“you are not to ask any questions. Keep in mind I am your only link to the girl you’re searching for and I am quite old. Much to old to be anything but blunt so you must convince me that you mean Naruko no harm or you lose your link, understood?” she said sternly and both ninjas nodded “good, now explain to me how two highly skilled ninjas claim to care for a child, but allow this to happen to her” she said coldly as she pulled out the thick file and set it in front of them.

Kakashi was the first to get the file was met with Naruko’s medical file explaining the condition she was in upon arriving at Cave “oh fuck … she looks so sick” he said heartbrokenly as he read through the information. The picture from the doctor showed a tiny nearly skeletal girl.

“she has recovered fully since that day” Yobaba commented as she watched Jiraiya take some of the other papers from the file. She took note of the ninjas’ faces softening at the sight of the present day pictures of the girl that proved she was much better.

“that’s good to hear … as for how this happened to Naruko … we have no excuse. We thought we were leaving Naruko in safe hands. Kakashi was too young to adopt and I had to quickly get back to my mission to protect Konoha, which was vulnerable after the attack from the nine tails” Jiraiya said bluntly not caring he was getting very close to becoming a traitor by telling Konoha’s secrets to a stranger. A stranger connected in someway to other ninjas and, for all he knew, could have been a ninja who was very good at hiding telltale signs and chakra, but in all honesty he was questioning his loyalties to his village so it made no difference to him …

“and your backup plan was to abandon a little baby in the orphanage of Konoha right after being stigmatized with the seal holding back the very demon that nearly destroyed said village?” Yobaba said dryly with her eyebrow raised skeptically.

Kakashi winced “ok … that really sounds stupid when you say it like that, but that wasn’t what happened. The hokage took her saying he’d care for her until I was older. We were both given progress reports”

“but neither of you saw her personally since then nor did your hokage allow you to spend time with her so that she wasn’t going to be taken in by some man she never met. It’s cute to see that ninjas seem to still have some sense of naivety” the old woman sneered.

Jiraiya’s jaw clenched “you can’t sit there and judge us” he snapped not realizing several of the staff at the restaurant stiffen subtly. It was much more than curiosity. Some of them were ready to fight because the fact is Jiraiya did just raise his voice to an elder and the advisor to their Queen no less.

“oh? According to this …” Yobaba handed them Jade’s old report of what happened when she found the little girl “disgusting display from the very village you swore your loyalty to and blindly trusted them with the one thing that is most precious I believe I have every right to judge you, your character and your ability to care for a child. A child, may I remind you, that you will never see again if I am not satisfied. I will not uproot a child and separate her from her mother only to have her land in a subpar or abusive environment” Yobaba said seriously secretly signaling for those around to calm down..

“m-mother?” Kakashi said sadly.

“a child with those big blue eyes being adopted so quickly shouldn’t be surprising” Yobaba huffed.

The toad sage sighed and patted Kakashi on the shoulder to offer some degree of comfort “you’re right Yobaba … Kakashi has tried to adopt Naruko so he is understandably disappointed. The process was difficult to complete. It seems the hokage has tried to keep us from Naruko in everyway possible and we did blindly trust him”

“that we can agree on, but Naruko is being cared for now and that’s what counts” the elder said.

“yes” Kakashi agreed because that is what mattered, but when he focused back on the provided he felt his heart break into many pieces “she’s terrified of this person” he concluded sadly. What hurt was that the picture of the demonized crowd surrounding a little girl distinctly showed a white dog mask on the silver haired person holding the girl down. The dog mask was definitely the main point of the picture and it looked a lot like Kakashi in his anbu uniform “I’ll murder whoever that is” he muttered under his breath not realizing that the old woman was a former ninja and could hear him easily or simply didn’t care.

Jiraiya hummed in agreement vowing to help hunt that bastard down and everyone involved. As he looked over a second drawing his eyes narrowed at the sight of a different masked person in the background “did Naruko say anything about this person?” he asked getting a nagging feeling. That mask looked like the mask of a ROOT agent and he wondered if Danzo was involved …

Yobaba shook her head “when she first did these pictures she was still scared and it was very fresh in her memory. At the time she said she spotted those blank masked ninjas once in awhile, but they only seemed to watch, never help. Now she only remembers bits and pieces. Those pieces mainly being Dog and some harsh things your hokage has said about the placement of women in the ninja career. This Dog character is the worse by far. Simply seeing a visage of someone similar to your build scares her thus my concern” she paused and looked the both of them over “I cannot allow you near her” she stood up to collect the file and leave.

The stunned ninjas snapped back to their senses once the woman left “wait!” they both yelled and raced to the door.

“fuck” Jiraiya cursed when there was no sign of the old woman … she was gone.

“she’s safe” Kakashi said getting Jiraiya’s attention before he was about to run off after the old woman “she is safe and happy … you saw the pictures … I can’t take her from that after everything she went through” he admitted. It hurt to not have the chance to see Naruko. He wanted nothing more than to find this woman and make her reveal where the girl was, but he didn’t want to scare Naruko.

Jiraiya winced and stopped to think about the situation more carefully “yeah … Tsunade won’t be happy though and … I think we have more to look into” he said thinking back to that blank mask in he child’s drawing.

With great reluctance they headed back into the restaurant and tried to finish their meal. They knew that the old woman was looking out for Naruko and they couldn’t deny that seeing Kakashi might not go well, but it was depressing that the little girl was no longer in their reach. If they did something, anything, sooner then maybe they would’ve been a part of Naruko’s life. In the end they only had themselves to blame. Of course both Konoha ninjas waited until the end of their stay hoping they will hear from the woman again, but Yobaba never returned. However as the two packed up they found a note in their belongings.

‘ _you both have shown that you do care for Naruko so while I still believe you are idiots I will set up a line of communication between you and Naruko. Leave anything you wish to give Naruko at the post office and I will take them to her, but if I find out that this gift is abused and find that you wish to take Naruko back to Konoha it will be stopped - Yobaba_ ’

“YES!” Kakashi cheered as Jiraiya hollered. The two of them put together several presents and each wrote very long letters. After pouring their hearts out they gathered everything and left it at the post office. The temptation to stay and attempt to follow the old woman to Naruko was very strong, but they didn’t want to risk losing this chance so the two men reluctantly left.

What they didn’t realize was that that decision to leave was actually when they earned Yobaba’s trust. The elder chuckled as she spotted the two men leaving Firefly village and went to check the letters and gifts in the post office. None of them had any means to track them “they’re still naïve, but perhaps there is hope for them”

XXXXXXXXXX

“Sarutobi is a fool” Danzo snorted as he walked through the passages of the underground ROOT complex.

Truth is he knew all about Naruko’s treatment by the villagers and the hokage’s involvement. Instead of doing anything he just had his ninjas pop by once in a while to make sure she was alive. Really he thought it would be the easiest way to get the demon vessel on his side. Just let the villagers and Sarutobi continue beating the girl and he will step in to save her at the right moment therefore earning her loyalty. He planned to secretly train her after and make her a powerful soldier, but now the bitch was gone. It was infuriating to have such potential slip away. However the distraction caused another opportunity to show itself …

“I can keep going!”

Danzo smirked as he saw a ROOT agent training with a stubborn young child “Sasuke you must let the body rest for it to become stronger. Take a break and the training will commence later. I must discuss that other condition you wanted”

“you know someone who’d be a suitable wife so I can rebuild my clan?” Sasuke smirked as he left the training area. He may have still been a child, but he knew what was needed to revive the clan his older brother killed. In exchange for loyalty Danzo agreed to train him so he could kill Itachi and find someone to help him bring an even stronger Uchiha clan into existence …

“yes … her name is Naruko Uzumaki, she has the power of a demon in her and the blood of the fourth hokage. You will find no one better to breed the next generation of Uchihas” Danzo said and gave the boy a picture of Naruko when she was in the village…


	12. Spider Threads

**(** I’m thinking)

“I’m speaking”

**Pairing: Hentai F/M - Naruko x Kimimaro**

**Last Time:**

“yes … her name is Naruko Uzumaki, she has the power of a demon in her and the blood of the fourth hokage. You will find no one better to breed the next generation of Uchihas” Danzo said and gave the boy a picture of Naruko when she was in the village…

XXXXXXXXXX

A deep blue spider scuttled under the bed only pausing briefly to check on the sudden sound from the bathroom. It was just the sound of the spray from the shower being turned on so the little spider continued the trek under the bed. After bypassing a few scrolls it came to a spot with two other spiders.

“she’s in the shower so lets bring them out” the little spider exclaimed excitedly.

The biggest spider chuckled “ok, calm down Nina. Why don’t you and Tina go get the presents and I’ll grab the things we’ll need for the graduation test?”

“ok Clara!” the two smaller spiders exclaimed before scuttling to get a set of colorful packages hidden under the bed. Nina and Tina crawled on one package each and connected a strand of their threads to them. With the threads in place they crawled away with the packages being dragged with them.

Clara eye smiled with all eight of her eyes as Tina’s thread broke and had to reattach it “make the thread a little thicker and make more stick to the package for more grip” she suggested helpfully.

After seeing the other spider make the necessary tweaks Clara moved on to view the scrolls under the bed. Each time she passed one that would be helpful she simply lifts her thorax and, with more skill that the other two spiders, shots a thread at the handle. With four scrolls attached to her she began casually towing them out from under the bed and up to the ceiling to suspend them over the bed where she could lower them on the orange bedspread. Moving her load took less time to complete than Nina and Tina’s, who were still climbing up the wall with the gifts, so she dropped down to the floor to look for anything else they might need.

A quick look around revealed a box “it’s hard believe she will be meeting them soon … well if they’re as kind as they seem in their letters everything should be fin” she commented as the two smaller spiders crawled up to her.

“we need that little package-awww, I found Kakashi and Jiraiya’s letters!” Tina cooed at the box of memories.

Nina sighed “I remember how scared Naruko was when Jade explained about Kakashi and showed her a picture. Even when she told Naruko that it was unlikely that Kakashi hurt her or helped the civilians hurt her she still looked at the letter like a monster would lea out of the words. I timed it. It took two and a half hours to try actually reading the letter. After that though she loved getting and writing to them”

“yes, she was even when Kakashi took months to respond one time. I loved the apology letter from Tsunade. It was funny to find out she sent both Jiraiya and Kakashi to the hospital for not telling her everything going on sooner without realizing Naruko was waiting for a reply” Clara shivered in amusement as she scuttled over to another scroll marked ‘old gear’ “we might need these too” she commented and connected thread to it with on shot.

Tina cocked her head slightly and clacked her pointed fangs “are you sure? Naruko uses our threads now so she wouldn’t need the gloves any more”

“true, but this isn’t like that three week survival trip the class took three years ago” Clara remarked as she started hauling the scroll up to the bed with the other scrolls.

Nina squeaked in delight as a little pink box was revealed when the scroll was moved “found the poison kit” the two wrapped their threads around the handle and base so it would fall open during transit and began dragging the kit along next to Clara “that was a fun test even if Naruko, Haru and Sana got in trouble for bringing pre packaged food”

“it made sense to me. First camping trip, test or not, calls for s’mores” Tina said as they started hauling their packages up the wall “they won’t get away with that this time though. This test is complicated right?”

Clara scuttled ahead and onto the ceiling “yes … it consists of a quick series of tests for flexibility, reflexes, problem solving, timing, aim and displaying your knowledge of current events in other places then there’s a three month long trip. The trip is a survival test in the Blue Forest along the edge of the cliffs with the first half of the test being individual only and teams in the second half. No food is allowed so you have to show your skills in hunting. During the first part of the test we are supposed to collect something, but we won’t be told what that is until the test. I bet it’s something noisy that will test stealth. The second part of the test … well the only hint they gave there is that we have to see through lies” she said as they lowered the last of the items onto the bedspread.

The shower was heard being turned off and Naruko called out “I can’t believe the exam is here. Now I’m nervous” she whimpered as she came out with a white fluffy towel wrapped around her curvy and surprisingly well developed frame for a 13 year old girl and another towel on her head that she used to scrub her hair dry.

“you’ll do fine and you have us to help” Tina exclaimed cheerfully.

Naruko peeked through the folds of the towel and smiled feeling a bit better knowing her familiars were going to be with her every step of the way, but then she poked her full lower lip out in a pout as she recalled what her sensei told the students with familiars “technically you guys are only allowed to help with the survival portion”

The largest spider jumped to the distracted blonde’s shoulder “that portion is the easy part for you. It sounds like it will just be one of those dummy tests again, but at a higher level combined with questions. You always did well with those tests so you don’t need us” she said reassuringly as she gently stroked the slender tan jawline.

“you’re right, I just need to calm down” Naruko took a deep breath and let the towel on her head hit the floor as she sat on the side of the bed. Without the towel blocking her vision she finally noticed all the items on her bed and her eyes widened “what’s all this?” she asked excitedly as she spotted the three colorful packages. As for the scrolls she figured it was Clara who usually likes to check to see if she had everything she needed.

Nina shifted on her eight legs as if she was dancing “we made you presents for your birthday since it will be during the graduation test!”

“thank you! Can I open them now?” Naruko asked excitedly.

“of course” Clara said with amusement in her tone and stayed on Naruko’s collarbone as the girl reached over to pick up the closest package.

Naruko carefully unwrapped the white and pink paper around the rectangular box and lifted the lid “oh my” she gasped in awe and reached in to pull out three sets of civilian clothes, but she could tell that they weren’t made from normal fabric “they’re silk … spider silk?” she mused as she examined the cute light blue sundress.

“that’s right. We made them especially for you. It’s a very light, but strong fabric so it will keep you safe even if you’re pretending to be a civilian and they look great. Open the next box. Tina designed this one” Clara said getting giddy.

With great care she placed the first box aside and got the second one, which she treated with the same care that she showed the first one. In only a moment a beautiful red dress was revealed. Naruko stood up and held the dress against her nearly naked body. The dress was a full length backless dress that had long slits on the sides to show some leg and would be held up by two ribbons that tie around her neck to cover her chest. The most interesting design point was the slightly darker red marking on the right side where it looked like spider legs were wrapping around her to deepen her curves.

“it’s so pretty” Naruko exclaimed. There would be no point in using them for the test, but the possibilities were endless for missions. The same could be said for the other gift and the last gift, which was the poison kit that was opened next. Poison disguised as makeup will be useful on at real mission, but not on a simple test.

“ _Naruko can I come in?_ ” Jade voice said through the bedroom door.

“once sec Mom. I’m just getting dressed” Naruko said quickly as she jumped off the bed and let the towel around her waist fall as she rummaged through her closet for something simple for the test. They had restrictions as far as what to wear because they wanted to see you preform with the bare minimum. No armor, no food, no pre made things, no weapons for the first half of the test and no medical kits. The last restriction seemed harsh, but the girls were all trained in first aid both with chakra and without so those skills need to be tested.

When Naruko finished dressing in a basic black tight long sleeved shirt with black anbu pants she opened the door to see her mother smiling and looking teary eyed “you’ve grown so much” Jade cooed and quickly pulled Naruko into a hug making the blonde blush “you have everything you need?”

“don’t worry Mom. Clara helped grab everything and I know I can’t use anything until the team portion” Naruko said happily.

Jade smiled proudly at her not-so-little little girl “I know you’ll pass with flying colors. I have a gift for you. It’s two months early, but I’d prefer giving you your birthday gift early rather than late” she explained as she gave Naruko a necklace with a dark blue gem carved into the shape of a bat.

“I love it” Naruko smiled as she took the necklace. Sadly she knew she had it here along with all her other gifts, but it was for the best since she didn’t want them either damaged or used for a test.

“I’m glad you do … you should get going” Jade said quickly after catching a glimpse of the clock on Naruko’s bedside table. The blonde yelped and rushed to seal away the scrolls and grab her eight legged friends. With little Nina and Tina hanging like earrings from her earlobes and Clara pulling her hair back in a messy bun looking just like a hairclip she was off. Just before heading to the school she stopped at a small post office and sent out a couple letters to Jiraiya and Kakashi.

It was no surprise to find that Clara guessed right. The minor portion of the exam involvd both dummies and questions. The potential graduates had to fight fast moving and heavily armed dummies just like when they were kids and they had to answer questions while dodging. When the questions were done they had to discover which dummy was the lead dummy and kill it or the other dummies wouldn’t stop.

One by one everyone took the test. Even Sana was struggling like everyone else, but she wasn’t allowed to use her bloodline just like how Naruko couldn’t use her familiars so that wasn’t a big surprise. By the time each person was tested it was dark out, but that didn’t stop the proctor for the next test, Lulu the Queen’s guard, from taking the group to the Blue Forest.

“this test is for survival. There will be times when you’re separated from your team. In those moments you may find yourself without any weapons, gear or chakra and you may be injured on top of that. You need to experience that. You need to know how to react. To test this you will be taken into the Blue Forest and asked to find a series of bells. You can’t seal the bells so you need to prove your stealth by staying quite even with the bells on your person. A special set of tracking dummies will be released 5 minutes after the test starts. If they find you, you get a mark with paint to symbolize your death, but you will still be allowed to continue though the more marks you have will impact your final grade. Hide your chakra, hide your bells and stay separated because the dummies can see heat signatures. For the second part all the dummies will release a signal telling you to team up and switch from tracking to running away. You can’t pick your own teammates. The first people you see will become your team of three. After you form your teams you’re allowed to use anything you have at your disposal to catch a dummy and take the item in its abdominal cavity. There’s plenty of dummies so don’t fight each other … unless you believe there may be an imposter in your group. At the end you must turn in your bells and dummy item. HAVE FUN EVERYONE!” Lulu grinned cheerily.

All the students bolted into the dark forest and tried to find places to camp for the night and hide from the dummies. The bell collecting will have to wait until tomorrow …

XXXXXXXXXX

“no sign of her has been found, but I want to try again hokage-sama” Kakashi reported clearly telling the hokage a complete lie for he has known about Naruko and has been in contact with her.

In fact he just received a letter from her describing the rather intense exam she’ll be taking. According to the dates mentioned it started last week. As much as he wished to be the one watching her grow up he couldn’t deny that she was being trained beyond what he did as a genin or even a chunin! She was prepared for anything that heads her way. He had zero doubts that she’ll pass and then they could meet. She expressed a desire to see the ruins of Kushina’s home of Whirlpool so Kakashi decided to meet her and her team there when they stop by. It’s not like anyone can say he can’t do something for another two years when they intend to saddle him with Sasuke.

“at least take some time to rest before going out again and don’t make it a very long trip again. Sasuke will need your help” Sarutobi said sounded a bit tired. It’s been so long since he lost Naruko and there was still nothing. The fact that she might be dead crossed his mind, but he would think the nine tailed fox would make itself known if that was the case. Time was running out. Naruko had to be brought back before the other villages realize Konoha’s demon vessel is gone.

Kakashi eye smiled “of course, thank you hokage-sama” he said as he mentally replaced ‘hokage-sama’ with a slew of colorful insults as he left the office. As he left the tower he crossed paths with none other than Danzo.

Danzo looked at the former anbu who stopped politely in front of him “there’s still some time, but good luck training Sasuke anyway. He will be a handful with a target in mind … most prodigies are” he said before turning to leave.

(what was that supposed to mean?) Kakashi thought. The ghost of a smirk on the warhawk’s lips concerned him. Jiraiya found that Danzo had his ROOT agents watching Naruko. Was there more to look out for?


	13. Examine

**(** I’m thinking)

“I’m speaking”

**Pairing: Hentai F/M - Naruko x Kimimaro**

**Last Time:**

(what was that supposed to mean?) Kakashi thought. The ghost of a smirk on the warhawk’s lips concerned him. Jiraiya found that Danzo had his ROOT agents watching Naruko. Was there more to look out for?

XXXXXXXXXX

“so Naruko is taking her exam … my how time flies … not that I’m old or anything of course” Tsunade hummed as she leaned back with her cup of sake.

Shizune smiled “oh of course … when she graduates you should take the chance to apologize personally”

A huge tick mark appeared on Tsunade’s temple “it was their fault for not explaining fast enough”

“the first words they said were ‘Naruko is safe’” Shizune said with a sweat drop on her temple.

Tsunade twitched “they should’ve said they were in contact with her”

“they did” the assistant said in a singsong tone.

“well … they should’ve told me sooner” the slug sage argued determined to be in the right here.

“you would’ve killed them if they talked to you without any leads to Naruko. They didn’t just have leads, but they had letters and a little blood for identification. Oh and before you argue the drunk point you were mostly sober thanks to all that coffee” Shizune said with an amused smile …

**Flashback – months after the visit to Firefly Village**

“hey Shizune!” Shizune looked away from the bottle of sake she was trying to pry out of Tsunade’s hand and saw Kakashi and Jiraiya walking over to them.

“hi guys” Shizune gasped as she still refused to release the bottle and was using all her effort trying to wrestle it away from the slug sage who definitely had way too much already.

“where’s my hallow?” Tsunade slurred so badly it sounded like she said ‘hallow’ instead of ‘hello’, which is what she actually meant.

“ummm … hi Tsunade” Jiraiya said before settling the tug of war by breaking the sake bottle. He caught Shizune who lost her balance and nearly fell over before ordering a large pot of coffee. The person at he bar seemed relieved that someone stopped super strong woman who had too much to drink. There only silence as the ninjas sat down at the table. Shizune could tell this was important and may end badly, which is why they were waiting for the coffee to show up. Once it arrive both Kakashi and Shizune sweat dropped as the toad sage tackled the slug sage and tried to force her to drink the beverage. After four cups of coffee were forced down her gullet Jiraiya assumed it was safe to continue “now before I say anything else I want to make it perfectly clear that Naruko is safe. We are in contact with her and she even sent us a letter with a little drop of blood to prove it’s her. She. Is. Safe. Ok?”

Tsunade scoffed as she sobered up “she’s in Konoha sooo duh” she muttered grouchily.

“well actually she isn’t” Kakashi said and glanced at Jirsiya before continuing his explanation “we thought that too until Jiraiya came to the village. While he was helping me get the adoption papers signed-”

Shizune squealed in delight making Tsunade wince in pain “you adopted Naruko!” she was giddy at the news, but her excitement was short lived. When se noticed the sad faces of the two shinobi she frowned “what happened?”

“I wish it worked out that way, but it didn’t. Kakashi and I were working on the papers when we were caught in an explosion. When we regained consciousness we were told Naruko was captured. He second I was able to walk I left to find her. Kakashi was not allowed to leave right away, but that turned out to be a life saver” Jiraiya said as he watched Tsunade carefully for any signs of danger.

Kakashi nodded “I tried investigating the blast thinking it was meant to be a distraction to either hide the kidnappers trails or stun the guards who were supposed to help other people in the chaos. When I went looking I couldn’t find anything, but then I spoke to two civilians who were working on the rebuild”

“they were rebuilding already?” Shizune asked thinking it sounded odd for a rebuild to start before any investigation was made.

“I know it was very weird. I thought it was strange, but that wasn’t the big issue. It was what these civilians said that really worried me. They said Naruko went missing months before the explosion! When I looked into it I found that Naruko was living alone in a broken down shack just on the edge of town until she disappeared. She was bandaging her own wounds and eating out of dumpsters!” Kakashi said his fists clenched in rage as he recalled the memory. Shizune gasped in horror “I immediately told Jiraiya what I found and we started looking for Naruko who we thought ran away. It turns out she was saved by an unknown village of ninjas. They met us at a neutral civilian village and told us everything. Naruko was treated like a demon and Sarutobi was conditioning her to be afraid of me! Right now she’s safe and recovering nicely. Look I have a picture and she’s expecting a letter from me any day now” Kakashi exclaimed happily as he pulled out a photo of a cute whiskered little girl.

As Shizune cooed at the picture Jiraiya watched Tsunade nervously “err … Tsunade?” he said cautiously trying to get her attention. Something was wrong … she was just to quiet.

A moment of foreboding silence passed before Tsunade shot up screaming “SAKE!”

The tantrum she threw was epic and unfortunately for Jiraiya and Kakashi they were in the middle of it. Both men were beaten so badly that they had to stay in the hospital for about a month. One day Shizune spotted a bird with a letter land next to Kakashi who, like Jiraiya, was out cold on the bed.

“what the hell kind of bird is that” Tsunade huffed at the colorful bird that pecked her for trying to take the letter, which she snatched away anyway.

“that’s probably the letter from Naruko. Remember Kakashi said that he was supposed to write her” Shizune leaned over to look at the letter that the slug sage ripped open even as the bird furiously pecked her head. The first thing she saw were tear stains on the paper “Naruko is worried about Kakashi. You owe her an apology” she said and Tsunade sheepishly started writing a letter to Naruko. The letter was given to the pissed off bird an it flew away with it after surprisingly taking a second to check for trackers.

**Flashback Over**

“anyway we should leave” Tsunade said trying to change the subject.

Shizune sighed “I told you already. Kakashi said in his latest letter that the exam is three months long so we have to wait a couple more months until it’s done”

“months!” Tsunade shrieked in shock accidently revealing a hidden sake bottle in her sleeve that Shizune immediately took away.

XXXXXXXXXX

Naruko carefully stamped out the fire and hid any traces of her most recent hunted rabbit, which wasn’t easy to do quietly with 20 bells attached to her sleeves. Though it seems her training with her threads gave her a big advantage in that department. Her grace and exact movements made it possible to hold the bells so not one jingle was made. With that boost in stealth she had an easier time avoiding the dummies than most.

“I’m running low on water again” she said quietly as she noticed that there was almost no water in the make shift canteen she created out of three large leaves glued together with bugs squished along the edges. It wasn’t permanent by any means. She had to remake a pouch six times, bt it’s a safer option than taking the time to prepare a animal skin while on the run. She knew she was lucky to avoid the dummies as long as she has so far. Just a little longer and she’ll have round two to deal with. Everything she needed was temptingly closed up in the seal on her wrist

“we should go find the other end of that stream. How much longer until we switch rounds?” Nina asked as she shot a thread at a bug and finally managed to snag a bug in mid air so she could eat on the go “I did it!”

“good job, but don’t eat on Naruko’s head. You don’t want to drop things in her eyes while she’s running. Try the shoulder” Clara lightly chastised the younger spider “and I believe this is the switch day if I’m correct” she said as the small spider moved down to Naruko’s shoulder to devour her morsel.

“let me think” Naruko pondered the timeline as she hopped into the trees and began running for any source of water “each canteen lasted seven days so six weeks passed. It should be time soon. Do you think I can get a bath in?”

Tina shuffled her long legs “why not? We’ll watch your back just in case there are dummies”

“ok” Naruko said before jumping quietly through the trees.

It was about an hour later that she found a stream. It was nice to put away her canteen so she could use a real one once the round changes. One by one she removed her clothes and eased herself into the water. She looked at the sun and relaxed. It was getting close to nighttime and therefore very close to the same time the exam started. Any minute now the time will change to he next round and the dummies will on the defensive. However the moment of rest she thought she could afford turned out to be a mistake.

“IN COMING!” Clara yelped as she jumped down from her lookout branch and onto Naruko’s head. Nina and Tina latched onto to the long blonde hair. A split second later a large wooden humanoid looking dummy dashed out of the underbrush. Sadly the blonde was naked, unarmed and was caught off guard. The dummy hit her hard in the gut sending her flying into the bank and a mark of ink was left behind “Naruko are you ok?”

“yeah I’m fine” Naruko mumbled with a pout as she slowly sat up and looked at the ink splotch on her stomach that would definitely affect her grade “damn … why isn’t it moving?” Naruko asked as she looked across the stream at the dummy who has just standing there frozen “is it giving me time to leave?”

Nina clacked her fangs “umm … I don’t think so” she said and it seems she was right for the dummy tilted it’s head back and shot a flare up into the sky. It was the signal to begin the next. Suddenly the dummy bolted into the trees and vanished.

Naruko’s jaw dropped “oh come on! 10 seconds and I could’ve made it mark free!” she exclaimed as she flopped back on the ground making her bare breasts bounce.

“I think there’s a lesson there. Never drop your guard unless you know the fight is over” Clara said wisely as she shot a web across the stream to the tree next to Naruko’s clothes and scuttled over to the clothes “now that we have to work as a team you should probably get dressed so we can find our teammates”

Naruko blushed “oh right” she mumbled and waded through the water to wash off the loose dirt. Once she felt clean she dressed in some fresh clothes she stored in the seal and sealed all her bells away.

Tina hopped onto the curve of the blonde’s hip “you know this is a water source so maybe others will be close”

“that’s a good point … lets just look around here first” Naruko said as she filled her canteen that had a cooling seal and a filter seal for fresh cool water. It also held a lot more water than it looks like it would thanks to seals that expand the inside and counter the weight to make it feel as light as a feather. Once the canteen was filled she and her spiders ran off. It didn’t take long at all …

“Haru!” Naruko called out when she heard the tinkle of a bell and saw her gray friend.

“Naruko! … Sana!” Haru smiled and went over to them. Naruko blinked and looked to her left where she saw Sana. The friends hugged though the bells on Haru and Sana’s sleeves made it awkward. All the girls decided to camp and rest. Then they can start hunting for a dummy in the morning.

Clara crawled onto Naruko’s ear as the blonde curled up in the freshly unsealed sleeping bag “it’s amazing you found your two friends. What are the chances?” the spider felt Naruko stiffen as she remembered the proctor’s words …

_‘There’s plenty of dummies so don’t fight each other … unless you believe there may be an imposter in your group’_

(that’s right … we all spread out so how could we find each other so easily? an imposter?) Naruko glanced at Clara who crawled down on the sleeping bag to quietly converse with Tina and Nina. The blond slept with her spiders watching out for her and with a kunai in the sleeping bag …


	14. Jingle Hell

**(** I’m thinking)

“I’m speaking”

**Pairing: Hentai F/M - Naruko x Kimimaro**

**Last Time:**

(that’s right … we all spread out so how could we find each other so easily? An imposter?) Naruko glanced at Clara who crawled down on the sleeping bag to quietly converse with Tina and Nina. The blond slept with her spiders watching out for her and with a kunai in the sleeping bag …

XXXXXXXXXX

“so you got one too Haru? I’m glad I wasn’t the only one” Naruko pouted cutely as she tickled the death mark on Haru’s left side (she acts like Haru) she thought as she heard Haru laugh “what about you Sana?”

“whether I did or not doesn’t matter. I’ll pass just fine” Sana said evasively.

Naruko sweat dropped (that’s exactly what Sana says when she did screw up and refuses to admit it)

“hey Naruko … I need some ointment” Sana said as she pointed to the shoulder she was favoring “I can’t reach that part so could you help?”

“of course. You should’ve told me yesterday that you were hurt” Naruko said as she unsealed her own handmade ointment mixed with special antiseptics only her spiders’ saliva could make. It has strong healing affects on many surface injuries.

“I iced it down after the rounds changed just before I ran into you guys so it was fine, but the swelling is bothering me again” Sana said as she lifted her shirt to show the purpling bruise on her back just under her shoulder blade.

Naruko smiled and started gently spreading some of the distinctive smelling ointment on the wound “this doesn’t look too bad” Naruko commented absentmindedly as she gently rubbed the ointment in. She smiled softly as she saw the edge of a death mark peeking up from below the hem of Sana’s pants on her hips, but when she glance up and saw Sana looking at her she noticed something odd. It wasn’t the fact tat her raven haired friend blushed and looked away. That seemed like something Sana would do when she knew she was caught with something like a death mark (was she smelling the ointment?) she thought as she closed her ointment jar. If Sana was looking for an imposter too then that would be a good place to start. Only Naruko has this ointment and no one would dare try to befriend spiders like the ones Naruko has. It would be too dangerous, but then her spider familiars are usually curled up as jewelry so fakes can be made and a sample of the ointment could be stolen so it wasn’t a concrete give away, which she knew Sana would be smart enough to figure out. A part of her did suspect Sana because anyone can pretend to be suspicious, but now it was a little less (but how can I find out for sure?) she pondered and another thing puzzled her. Why isn’t Sana using her Sharingan?

“so, which direction should we go? I saw a dummy head northwest when the rounds changed” Haru offered.

“I saw two move southeast. What about you Naruko?” Sana asked.

“the one that got me headed southeast” Naruko said as she studied her friends.

“so we know more than one headed southeast. We’d better our chances of finding one if we head southeast” Sana concluded and waited for her teammates’ input.

Haru frowned “true, but we would have an increased chance of running into other teams and we can’t afford to lose track of the dummies”

Sana twitched as she pondered those words “the proctor said not to fight over the dummies” she said glancing at Naruko to see if there was and equal amount of suspicion, but she found none.

The blonde looked at Sana with a smile “technically the proctor said there were plenty of dummies so we won’t need to fight over them, but just because she said don’t fight over them doesn’t mean there’s a rule against it. The first part of her speech did say they want to know how we’d react. In real life we’d have to fight other teams for a similar goal. Our goal happens to run very fast and there’s a time limit plus no one said anything about stealing the dummies’ from another team if a dummy can’t be found so we need to be careful cause some teams will think it’s easier to fight a human than a dummy” Naruko explained making Sana twitch. Naruko wondered if Sana thought it would really be that easy to get someone trained to slip up. Sure this was a test, but it had to be as real as possible and they had to know how to smoke a fake. Suddenly Naruko was struck with an epiphany “why don’t we decide which direction to go by playing our game?” she said as she unsealed a chess board with multiple full sets of chocolate pieces that were shaped like the pieces from a chess set. A candy layer made one half of the pieces look with while the others looked black. The candy coating also kept them from melting.

A few years ago they went from checkers to chess to practice the strategic methods they were learning in class. The more complex pieces made another chakra control exercise for Naruko who was the one using chakra to form the shapes. The blonde never left without it. After all you never know when you need to play a game.

“yeah that’s a good idea” Sana said as she sat down on the ground across from Haru “if I win we go southeast … if you win we go northwest” Sana said between finding only one set of the dark pieces. Naruko mentally smirked as she saw Sana check the bottoms of the pieces and for good reason. Haru, however, was not and that’s all she needed to know.

Sana also spotted the subtle lack of that very necessary action and subtly glanced at Naruko whose spiders unraveled seemingly to watch the game. The raven knew what she had to do and paid special attention to which king she picked. A few moves later Sana lost “fuck, of all the times to be beaten” she scowled like she always did upon losing.

“sorry Sana, but it’s apparently northwest for us” Haru said humbly as she bit into the king she won from Sana, but promptly regretted it and began clutching her throat.

You see many of the pieces are a mix of flavors like milk, white or dark chocolate with the addition of a spice like cinnamon. With the candy coating you wouldn’t tell one chocolate flavor from another and to make it fun Naruko mixes them, so each set has a surprise, but Haru doesn’t like chocolate as much as them so there was one set different from the others so Haru could enjoy the game. No one knew about the set for Haru because all the pieces looked like they could be interchangeable thanks to the black or white candy coatings, but during the candy coating process Naruko puts a flame on the bottom of the special ones for Haru and there was a reason no one wanted to mix up those pieces

The poor imposter just sank her teeth into Haru’s favorite extra spicy jelly candy …

Naruko winced as the person turned bright red because of the spiciness and unsealed her canteen “here drink-”

“hold it” Sana snapped as she took the canteen from Naruko and out of the imposter’s reach “drop the disguise” Sana ordered as she glared at the fake Haru rolling on the ground and crying from the heat of the candy.

With a pop the blonde’s eyes widened as their sensei was revealed “Minami sensei? ,,, Sana give her the canteen” Naruko urged as their sensei was coming very close to passing out.

“no, it serves her right” Sana muttered uncaringly as she nudge her sensei with the toe of her shoe. It seems she was a little pissed for being forced to suspect one of her friends. Heaven help anyone who tries this stunt in the future.

Naruko rolled her eyes “give me that” she said and with little movement at all threads that were so thin you couldn’t see them with the naked eye grabbed the canteen out of Sana’s hand. If someone saw this and didn’t know about the threads they’d think the canteen floated up and poured it’s own contents into the sensei’s mouth as if by magic.

“spoil sport” Sana grumbled and scoffed as the sensei left without a word the second she was a little better “we should’ve tied her up”

Clara clacked her mandibles “now Sana this is a test so she had a right to try and trick you. Save the torture for the idiots who try this outside the village. Ms. Minami probably did give you points for tricking her though”

“yeah maybe” Sana sighed as Naruko tucked all the chess pieces away in the seal in her hand “if she said northwest then we should go southeast”

“actually I think going directly south would give us the best shelter and a great trap opportunity if you don’t mind traveling into the swamp” Naruko said as she put the final chess piece away and sealed the canteen.

“you have plan for a trap” Sana stated with a smirk.

Naruko nodded “yes, but we’ll have to get there before nightfall otherwise we won’t be able to find the cave I found when I passed there to get a bell a week ago. It provided good shelter, but I could not stay there if I wanted more bells”

“ok lets head there” Sana said and she followed her friend to the site. It took them three hours at top speed, which was much shorter than Naruko predicted, but she forgot that she had to be more careful before because the dummies were chasing instead of running away “this is the only solid ground in this swamp. It’s shear luck you found it at all in these reeds” Sana commented as she inspected the cave like trench in the middle of a murky swamp.

“yes it’s perfect for now and it’s cool inside, which made me think of this trap. What do you think about fooling around with the dummies’ heat and chakra sensors?” Naruko asked as she let her spiders jump to the neighboring trees where they started weaving large webs.

Sana smirked as she caught onto the plan “you want to herd the dummies to us. I like it. I’ll provide some heat” she said as she made a hand sign that sent a flurry of small flares shooting out of her mouth and into the air at an angle that will have them land at good distance east. The flares themselves weren’t harmful to anyone, but they will create some nice sensor disrupting heat …

XXXXXXXXXX

“there’s one!” three ninjas wannabes yelled as they tried to jump a dummy who zipped passed them.

“it’s too fast” one girl muttered.

The brown haired girl rolled her eyes as she followed the other two “we can stop it!” (I’m surprised they haven’t noticed I’m not Jenny yet) the imposter on this team thought just before spotting a series of lights overhead “take cover!” she yelled. Everyone dove into the trees just as it started raining flares.

“what was that? … crap the dummy went into the swamp” one of the girls snapped just after the hot flare rain and the hot steam made by the flares hitting the edge of a pond rose up from the water forcing the dummy to change direction to avoid what it thought was the heat of a person and go into the murky swamp.

(that was Sana’s flare jutsu at a very low level. Are they fighting or plotting?) the imposter thought curiously.

XXXXXXXXXX

“hey Sana, why haven’t you used your Sharingan?” Naruko asked to pass the time as they waited to ambush the dummy in the cave.

“the proctor said we should be ready in all circumstances so I want to not use my Sharingan and prove I can survive without it. I even tracked you without it, but that was more luck. I happened to find one of your makeshift canteens trapped in some brush and stayed close to the water during the last few days hoping to find you” Sana said, but stayed quiet after that “any minute … my flares must’ve gone a good half mile and I know there are ponds that way so we should- there!” Sana hissed as she saw the dummy race towards them. The spider webs trapped it and it was bout to use sharp claws to get free, but it was too late …

Naruko used the slightest motions to make the threads slice into the dummy leaving only the torso undamaged “got it”

“yep, now what’s in the chest?” Sana pondered as she crawled out of the cave with Naruko and used a kunai to pry open the chest of the wooden torso reveling the cavity “a red bell?” Sana said as she reached into the chest and picked up the red bell.

“it’s just like the bells from the first round-“ the blonde said, but was interrupted when the bell rang ”how weird, it rang by itself … S-Sana?” Naruko gasped as her friend melted away and in her place was a giant with a dog mask surrounded by an angry mob that terrified her to the core.

“ _DEMON_ ”

“ _MONSTER_ ”

Naruko whimpered as the horrible screams from her past got louder “genjutsu!” she exclaimed after shaking some sense back into her, but the techniques to release it were not working “Sana I can’t break this genjutsu” she yelled over the screams.

“NARUKO I CAN’T DISPEL IT” Sana yelled back.

“what?” Naruko exclaimed in shock. If Sana can’t dispel it then it wasn’t a genjutsu, but what was it then and how do they stop it?


	15. The Field

**“”(** I’m thinking)

“I’m speaking”

**Pairing: Hentai F/M - Naruko x Kimimaro**

**Last Time:**

“NARUKO I CAN’T DISPEL IT” Sana yelled back.

“what?” Naruko exclaimed in shock. If Sana can’t dispel it then it wasn’t a genjutsu, but what was it then and how do they stop it?

XXXXXXXXXX

“I just need to think” Naruko yelled over the screams of the nightmarish illusions. All of the noise was making it so hard to think straight, but that’s when she realized that this all started with a noise. The red bell from the dummy to be exact! “I’m going to try something! Drop the bell you have and step on it so it won’t ring”

“ok!” Sana yelled back over the hellish sounds.

Naruko unsealed all the bells they collected over the first part of the test and used her skill with threads to make them seemingly float by the unseen threads and ring all of them at once. The result was a breeze and a click “I think it worked” Naruko muttered and sighed in relief as the horrid images vanished.

“thank god … now what the hell was that?” Sana grumbled a little ticked that she wasn’t much help in that situation.

“gas” came a voice from behind them.

Both girls spun around and saw Queen Reine who was standing right behind them “Queen Reine!” they both exclaimed before bowing respectfully.

Reine chuckled before turning serious “what is the point of this exam?”

“survival” Naruko answere as her spiders crawled onto her head to listen and even did a little bow of their ownd.

“teamwork” Sana supplied.

“we were testing your skills in those areas, but that wasn’t the point” Reine pointed to the dummy laying on the ground “up until now you only had to deal with jutsus, but in the field you will have a number of obstacles. You will be separated from your team. You will be injured or have no chakra. You will have to avoid, chase or catch an enemy. You will have to survive. This test is to show us how you adapt. We aren’t expecting perfection because you are young, but you need to be aware of what to expect in cases you aren’t used to things like the hallucinogenic gas in the dummy released from its compartment when the bell inside rang. A gas is not a jutsu. You can’t dispel it, but we gave you a hint as to how to shut off the gas and release the antidote gas”

Naruko blushed as she looked at the bells “the bells”

The queen nodded “yes … in the real world there are genjutsus that are so strong you can’t break them without coming close to death and many other non chakra related traps. Now as a ninja of Cave you also have the added challenge of hiding your status as ninjas to protect our home. Only in the necessary circumstances are you allowed to show your skills and never lead strangers to our home. Though both of you received a mark you both showed skill in adapting. Just remember it’s not over until it’s over” she said as she sent Naruko a knowing glance who blushed “and never attempt to fight someone stronger than” she said sending an embarrassed Sana a smile “learn from your mistakes, use your heads and make our village proud”

Sana looked up in confusion “your majesty?”

Reine smiled “the time limit is optional. What matters is if you displayed what was needed. The goal was completed and you displayed great skill, but learn from your mistakes. You both pass”

“Yay!” both girls jumped up and cheered, but blushed as they realized they were still in front of the queen who looked more amused than anything else.

XXXXXXXXXX

“she passed already?!” Jade yelped right outside her house.

Lulu giggled as she watched Jade cheered excitedly “yep, they did really well and they’re getting the marks removed now! So well that the queen went to pick them up personally and I had to tell you. Of course that might’ve also been because of what happened to Minami”

Jade stopped in her cheering and raised her eyebrow “Minami? What happened to her?”

“it was really funny” Lulu said through more giggles “Minami was their imposter and they tricked her on the first day of round 2”

“on the first day? I didn’t realize anything was wrong until about a week into my test” an awestruck Jade exclaimed, but she couldn’t help but feel very proud.

“apparently we weren’t watching close enough when preparing for the test since no one realized that Haru had a very different candy flavor-you knew?!” Lulu pointed am accusing finger at Jade who blushed.

“I helped Naruko make the spicy candy recipe for Haru and it’s not my fault you didn’t know since mothers aren’t supposed to get involved with the test preparations” Jade said pointedly making it clear she wasn’t not to blame. Mothers know so much it wouldn’t be fair to the future ninjas if they were involved or worse, the mothers could lie to make it easier for their kid, which won’t help anyone in the long run “oh on … Minami ate the spicy candy didn’t she?” Jade guessed with a cringe of pain at the thought.

“yes and it wasn’t pretty. Minami is still feeling sick because of that candy. What did you put in that?! It could be used as a weapon” Lulu shivered in fear.

Jade deadpanned “it’s a reduction of the spiciest peppers in the Elemental nations”

“sweet little Haru eats that?! That’s insane- whoops, I better gets back! I’ll tell Naruko you’re home” Lulu yelled as she jumped away through the trees.

“THANKS” Jade called back before running into the house to make a celebratory cake for her daughter and tell Mary that Sana passed her exam.

It really was an exciting moment, but it was dampened just a little as her eyes spotted a scroll laying on the shelf next to her recipe books. Of course it wasn’t the same scroll as the one it reminded her of, which was the Uzumaki inventory scroll in Naruko’s room, but it did remind her that Naruko was growing up and will leave soon. The first trip will be to the ruins of the Uzumaki village. Of course it will be the time when she will still be under her punishment so joining Naruko may not be allowed.

The thought of her daughter going with her team and sensei didn’t bother her at all, but that wasn’t the only thing that will happen. After all Naruko will be meeting Leaf village ninjas while she was there and that really bothered her. She wanted to be there when Kakashi came anywhere near Naruko and the only way that will ever happen is if the queen lets her off of the last few months of her punishment.

“it’s only a few months so maybe …” Jade pondered how likely it was that she’ll be allowed back in the field as she baked and glazed a chocolate cake. It was ready when Naruko came running into the house bouncing excitedly a couple hours later.

“I did it! I did it! And Sana made it too!” Naruko exclaimed happily as she hugged her mother.

“I know! Lulu came to tell me” Jade smiled.

Tina dangled from Naruko’s earlobe “really? Oh that’s how she knew you were home!”

“yes, she had to tell me about you passing and about Minami” Jade said with a a smirk making her daughter blush.

Clara clacked her mandibles in amusement “Naruko at least gave her water. Sana would’ve let her pass out”

“oh she could do well in interrogating people” Jade said with a sweat drop hanging from her temple “alright now lets get you some cake and you can rest” she said noticing that the blonde looked tired and it was no surprise really. It was a grueling test she went through.

“oh cake, it has been too long” Naruko sang getting a chuckle from her mother.

“so did they say who your sensei would be or are they waiting for you to get a third member?” Jade asked as she cut a big slice of warm cake and set it on the plate in front of the little blonde. Senseis are always assigned right when three students pass so there doesn’t have to be a huge ceremony that those who didn’t pass will need to suffer through. Also the three that pass first become a team and the second three and so on. It is set that way so those who are good at teamwork are placed together and those who passed later are all at the same level as their teammates. It makes growing together easy than having an overly skilled person overshadowing the least skilled right out of the gate.

“Barb-sensei! Do you know her Mom?” Naruko asked as she dug into her tasty confection.

“oh I know her and I have no doubt you’ll like her” Jade laughed and started telling Naruko about the sensei she was going to meet.

Barb was a very strong good natured woman with a very tall muscled frame, but despite that she is very skilled in stealth and can infiltrate any village easily mostly because she can move so first that no one can see her. Using her skills of advanced speed and brute force made her the best at rescue missions and ambushes. She saved a number of Cave ninjas from some of the worst situations out there and Jade couldn’t be happier with the choice.

XXXXXXXXXX

Kakashi nearly jumped to the window when he saw a bird carrying a bug land there “I hoe I’m right this time” he muttered after scaring the bird away and taking the bug. The message delivery system was brilliant. So brilliant it was hard to tell if it was a message or if was just a real bird trying to eat a real bug. There were a lot of birds in Konoha who are pissed at Kakashi for taking their lunch “it’s real!” Kakashi whispered and snatched the bug that was apparently wooden.

After shutting the window he opened the bug and pulled out the message. It was a message straight from Naruko and he was thrilled to hear that she passed her exam and was assigned a team. They were spending time together learning codes for emergencies, but her sensei already agreed to take them on their first mission near the villages close to the ruins of Whirlpool so they can explore the ruins after. Of course this meant it was time to pack and get to Whirlpool to meet Naruko in a couple weeks.

“I’m coming Naruko” he whispered before burning the note with a small fire jutsu. He wasn’t taking any chances that someone might discover her …

XXXXXXXXXX

Queen Reine looked up as Jade who quickly bowed “Barb reported to me that Naruko, Sana and Haru have learned the heat path and emergency codes … I know what you want to ask”

“I beg you my queen. Let me join my daughter this once. I will double my shifts at the Breeding clinic until my punishment is officially up if I must just please let me go” Jade pleaded …


	16. Watching Over

(I’m thinking)

“I’m speaking”

**Pairing: Hentai F/M - Naruko x Kimimaro**

**Last Time:**

“I beg you my queen. Let me join my daughter this once. I will double my shifts at the Breeding clinic until my punishment is officially up if I must just please let me go” Jade pleaded …

XXXXXXXXXX

Haru pouted as she saw Naruko use a special makeup to cover her whisker marks, “It’s a shame you have to cover your whiskers. They’re so cute!”

“I don’t want to, but they’re too distinctive. If anyone from Konoha saw them I’ll be recognized.” Naruko said shivering in disgust at the thought of most of those people learning who she was disturbed her.

Nina bounced on the blonde’s shoulder with her fellow spider familiars, “You’re still cute and you have a poison kit too.”

Sana huffed, “My mom’s girlfriend got me one of those double sided makeup kits with a hidden poison kit. I think they’re stupid.”

“That’s because you suck at using the civilian make up over the disguise makeup and poison compartments.” Naruko said chucking at the blush that tinted the sulking raven’s cheeks. As she finished covering her whisker marks and sealed the makeup they spotted their muscle bound sensei walking up to them waving a scroll in the air.

“Alright! This is the day my little students! We have our first mission and as promised, Naruko, it is close to the village of Whirlpool!” Barb grinned as she tossed the scroll to Haru.

Haru caught the scroll and excitedly unrolled it as Naruko and Sana moved behind her, “Oh my! We have to infiltrate a village and find a group of captured people before they’re sold?” Haru exclaimed a little surprised at

Barb nodded seriously, “What are the current events in Mist?”

Naruko frowned, “There’s a war going on where Mist wishes to purge all the bloodline users from their village, but it’s split between the rebels who want to overthrow the mizukage and the rest of the village. Currently it seems like the rebels are losing.”

“Exactly! Our village has decided to shift things in the rebels’ favor by cutting off the main part of Mist from it’s money sources. These people are being transported to an auction house to be sold for money. Many of the people are bloodline users, which thanks to some manipulation on Mist’s part, are rare enough to fetch a lot of money. We’ll be sabotaging the auction by stopping the transport group at the village of Hot Water.”

Haru whimpered slightly, “What do you mean by ‘manipulation’?”

The sensei sighed, “It is exactly what you learned in school. Mist is destroying nearby clans and leaving only one person from each clan alive. Yes, Mist is seeking to wipeout all bloodlines, but they need to keep the war funded. Selling the last bearer of a bloodline will fetch a high price even if they have to ensure that they have the rarest product. You three will work to release the prisoners, but you must be careful. There will be strong guards watching including two Mist ninjas.”

“Is this a typical first mission?” Sana asked curiously as she skimmed the details in the scroll.

“Yes and here’s why. The second you leave the village limits you’re in danger. You can and will become a target so you will have a hard mission and you will be required to kill the guards. It’s not an easy thing, but you must do so if you want to learn to protect yourself and your teammates in this career. Knowing when to kill is as important as knowing when to use your wit, but you need to experience it first to fully understand. Do you all understand?” Barb asked seriously and when her young ninjas nodded she grinned. “Then let’s go!”

Clara scuttled onto Naruko’s hair and pulled it back into a low pony tail as Nina and Tina found their spots as deceitfully innocent earrings, “Now, remember your heat path lessons everyone!” She exclaimed excitedly before becoming still to appear like regular jewelry.

Naruko and her friends followed their sensei to the wall surrounding the island . it brought back memories from when she first came here. She remembered her mother carrying her through the cave network and the bright light of the sun when they came out. She remembered her mother holding up her mask just like her sensei was now, which she now knew was a signal for the border patrol. They will have to do the same once they start doing missions on their own.

As they followed their sensei to the boulder placed in front of the cave entrance they heard a strange sound. The very sound Naruko remembered hearing just before the boulder moved letting her and her mother into the village. The noise was as toy bug that all independent ninjas use to activate a seal that will make the boulder move out of the way.

Once inside the cave they had only a second of light before the boulder rolled back and closing them off from all light. The only way to get through was focused on the stalactites to guide them through the cave network though not by sight or touch. Natural pulses of heat guide them through the darkness. It was very tricky to say the least because the odd chakra absorbing forest above them made the cave systems give off a mild heat everywhere, but the stalactites that pulsed slightly faster are the ones you need to follow.

It was no surprise the heat path was so hard to learn. Barb took two weeks giving them a simulated test just to prepare them to leave the village safely. That may sound a bit extreme, but it was necessary. One misstep can send you into the shark infested waters surrounding the island or get you killed by one of the many traps laid out in the cave’s many tunnels. There was no security more dangerous than this one trek.

Naruko felt that familiar tug on her chakra, but it didn’t cause pain like it did when she was a child, “We’re close. The rock valley next then the forest.” She murmured softly so as not to disturb her friends’ concentration, but while she knew her friends couldn’t hear her sensei did.

Barb chuckled, “You have a good memory Naruko … can you all feel the roots on the ground? We’re safe here.” Barb said signaling them to stop. “This is where you use the jutsu I taught you. Sana, why don’t you try it.”

“Yes sensei.” Sana said before making a set of seven hand signs in the darkness. A second later light flooded the cave as a stone raised up in the air letting the ninjas up into the rock valley surrounded by the deadly forest.

“Very good,” the sensei said as the rock lowered effectively hiding the cave entrance and blending into the rock valley. “Now, we head east to meet the transport group. We’ll work on stealth and infiltration when we get closer to the village they’re stopping at.”

“Yes sensei!” The girls exclaimed and followed after their sensei who jumped into the tree and began moving quickly. Over the next week they got closer to the village and therefore the mission.

Barb smiled softly as she noticed the apprehensive looks as they exited the safety of their home and moved towards their target, “I know why you’re all nervous and you’ll do fine,” she said with a smile. “This mission is the first of many and because of that you must experience some of the darkest things so you’re ready, but keep this in mind. In many other villages they don’t do this. They allow their new ninjas to leave the village and come across trouble without knowing everything and it never goes right” Barb said as they paused to wait for any sign of their target approaching the village they were only a mile away from.

Out of the corner of her eye she saw a blur of three figures. Barb knew exactly who they were and was amused when she noticed a fourth blur zip near them. There was a reason four high ranking ninjas were following them. New ninjas are always monitored during their first mission by a team of jonins and the missions are always near a hidden places that are allies to Cave so help can be there quickly to keep lives from being lost senselessly. The first mission always involves death, which is why it’s best to handle everything carefully …

She saw her students nod, but still saw the fear in their eyes and she sighed. “Killing is never a good thing, but this isn’t a job where you can avoid it. Many people lose teammates because they aren’t mentally prepared for what’s coming. You don’t want to be caught off guard, right? When it comes down to it would you rather know you did everything possible to protect your friends from death or watch the worst happen to them because you froze at the worst moment because of fear?”

Naruko’s eyes widened and she glanced at her friends knowing they felt the same, “No sensei. We want to be prepared.”

“Good … now, the target is disguised as a merchant wagon. You three get into civilian clothes and go into the village. You won’t see me, but I’ll be with you. Use your heads and locate the place the wagon is staying. The auction house should be nearby if not in the same building.” Barb said and practically disappeared she moved so fast leaving the girls to change …

XXXXXXXXXX

“You wish to leave? You did promise to train Sasuke when he becomes a genin, remember?” Sarutobi reminded the jonin in front of him.

Kakashi nodded, “I realize that, but it’s not for two more years. I want to take more time trying to find Naruko. If I can she could be on the same team with a crash course in training.” Kakashi said pretending that he’d even bother doing such a thing. He knew there was no way Naruko would return and he will help her stay far away from Konoha’s reach.

Sarutobi winced as he was reminded of how badly he screwed up. At this point Naruko was untrained for years and there was no guarantee she was even alive. He destroyed the chance for Konoha to have a powerful weapon simply because he tried to take things too far in her treatment and allowed the civilians to have too much freedom, “We both know she’ll never be ready in time to be allowed on the same team as Sasuke. Even if you found her seconds after leaving the gate it won’t work. She needs time to heal if she’s injured, she’d need time to recover mentally and it takes years to train as ninja. There’s no way that she can reach the level needed to get on a team in only two years.”

The silver haired ninja mentally flipped the hokage the middle finger as he sighed sadly, “I know, but I still need to try.” Kakashi said determinedly.

“Very well,” Sarutobi said in defeat. “You can go … in fact while you’re out you can go and check a sighting of Orochimaru. Jiraiya sent me a map … here it is!”

Kakashi mentally paled as he took the map he was given and saw the marked location, “I will do that, hokage-sama.” He said and left the second he was dismissed. Suddenly everything became more alarming. Why? The map indicated that Orochimaru was spotted heading towards the villages near Whirlpool. He had no clue why that would be, but he had to move fast and pray Naruko won’t run into the snake sage while on her first mission. Hopefully Jiraiya was already near there and watching out for Naruko…

XXXXXXXXXX

“This one is waking again.” One ninja sneered from his spot in the back of a large transport wagon filled with people who were tied up and drugged.

The second ninja in the back scowled as he took out a needle, “Damn prick causes so much trouble. Not going to let him take out anymore of us.” He smirked and stabbed the needle into the arm of a pale teen with white hair making the green eyes close as the drugs took affect …


End file.
